^ 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


.sr  /4i 


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fA 


1.0 


I.I 


■^■18    12.5 

ISO    "^^     H^B 

2.0 


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Photografdiic 

Sdences 

Corporalion 


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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHIVI/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


d 


D 
D 
D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 

Covers  damaged/ 
Couverture  endommagee 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurde  et/ou  pellicul^e 

Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


I      I    Coloured  maps/ 


Cartes  g^ographiques  en  couleur 


□    Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


n 


n 


n 


Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material/ 
Reli§  avec  d'autres  documents 


Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  reliure  serree  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  int^rieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajouties 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  6tait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  ^t6  filmdes. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  suppl^mentaires; 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'ii  lui  a  6t6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cat  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-dtre  uniques  du 
point  de  vira  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  m^thode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiquds  ci-dessous. 

□    Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couleur 

□    Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagdes 

□    Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaurdes  et/ou  pellicul6es 

r~~;|^  Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
I      I    Pages  ddcolor^es,  tachetdes  ou  piqu6es 


I      I    Pages  detached/ 


D 
D 


Pages  d6tach6es 

Showthroughy 
Transparence 

Quality  of  prir 

Quality  indgale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  materii 
Comprend  du  materiel  supplementaire 


["71    Showthrough/ 

I      I    Quality  of  print  varies/ 

I      I    Includes  supplementary  material/ 


Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 

Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  6X6  film^es  6  nouveau  de  fapon  d 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 


v#e  ac 
10X 

icum 

sni  e 

SI  Til 

me  a 
14X 

U  IBU 

X  ae 

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ciion 
18X 

inuK 

|US  G 

i-a«8 

sous 
22X 

26X 

30X 

J 

f 

12X 

16X 

20X 

24X 

28X 

32X 

Th«  copy  filmad  hara  has  baan  raproducad  thank* 
to  tha  ganarosity  off: 

Library  Division 

Provincial  Archives  of  British  Columbia 


L'axamplaira  film*  ffut  raproduit  grica  A  la 
gi'^4rotit*  da: 

Library  Division 

Provincial  Archives  of  British  Columbia 


Tha  Imagas  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  bast  quality 
possibia  consldaring  tha  condition  and  laglblllty 
off  tha  original  copy  and  In  kaaping  with  tha 
ffllming  contract  spacifflcatlons. 


Las  imagas  sulvantas  ont  AtA  raproduitas  avac  la 
plus  grand  soin,  compta  tanu  da  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattat*  da  l'axamplaira  ffilmA,  at  an 
confformitA  avac  las  conditions  du  contrat  da 
ffilmaga. 


Origins!!  copias  in  printad  papar  covars  ara  ffiimcd 
baginning  with  tha  ffront  covar  and  anding  on 
tha  last  paga  with  a  printad  or  lllustratad  impras- 
slon,  or  tha  back  covar  whan  appropriata.  All 
othar  original  copias  ara  filmad  baginning  on  tha 
first  paga  with  a  printad  or  lllustratad  impras- 
sion,  and  anding  on  tha  last  paga  with  a  printad 
or  lllustratad  impra:. ion. 


Tha  last  racordad  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  -^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED "),  or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END  "), 
whichever  applies. 


Les  exemplairas  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  ImprimAe  sont  ffllmAs  en  commengant 
par  la  premier  plat  at  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
darniire  paga  qui  comporte  une  emprelnte 
d'Impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  la  second 
plat,  salon  la  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplairas 
originaux  sont  ffilmis  en  commengant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  emprelnte 
d'Impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  darniire  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
emprelnte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
darnlAre  image  de  cheque  microffiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbols  ^»-  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbols  V  signiffie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
diffferent  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc..  peuvent  Atre 
filmis  A  des  taux  de  reduction  difffirents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clich*.  il  est  ffllmA  A  partir 
de  Tangle  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  nAcessaire.  Les  diagrammas  suivants 
illustrent  la  mithoda. 


■,.,.  t. 

2 

3 

32X 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

\y 


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r 


A  Guide 

YUKON 

COLD  Fields 

•        WITH- 
MAP  A/ID  ILLUSTRATIONS 

LeWMAN     &    HAMFORD    3   &  P.  CO  PUBUSHEBS 

•     SEATTLE 


1? 


PACIFIC  COAST  STEAMSHIP  CO. 


THE  PIONEER  AND   REGULAR   LINE 

CARRYING  UNITED  STATES  MAILS 


Opefatiog  Six  Large  Steamers  on  the  Alaska  Routei  among  them 

the  Elegant  Excursion  Steamer 


•  • 


QUEEN" 


%mtk 


Steamers  Sail  every  two  or  three  days  with  oldest  and  most  care- 
ful Commanders  on  the  Pacific  Coast* 

DISPATCH  LINE  FOR  THE  YUKON  MINES 

via  all  iirincipal  points*  to  Skaguay  Bay  and  Dyea  Trails 


For  further  informatioa  see  P.  C.  S.  S.  Go's  printed  Folders,  also  Pamphlets, 
"HOW  TO  REACH  THE  GOLD  HELDS  OF  ALASKA." 


Connections  made  with  all  transcontinental  rail  lines,  also  with  Steamers  of  this 

company  plying  on  other  routes. 

ROUTES  OPERATED  FROM  SAN  FRANCISCO 

Mexican  RoutCi  Southern  California  Coast  Route.  Northern  California^ 

Humboldt  Bay  Route*  Portland  and  Astoria  Route*  British 

Columbia*  Puget  Sound  and  Alaska  Route* 


City  Ticket  Office:    606  FIRST  AVE,  SEATTIaE 


GOODALL,  PERKINS  &  CO. 

OINERAL  AOKNTS 

SAN  FRANCISCO.  CAL. 


J.  F.  TROWBRIDGE 

PUatT  SOUND  SUPT. 

OeCAN  DoeR.  ■lATTLI 


(DEQinE 


O 


Our  many  years  of  experience  in  outfitting  Alaska  prospectors, 
as  well  as  wholesaling  extensively  to  the  Alaska  merchants,  has 
taught  us  exactly  what  the  climate  demands.  In  many  instances 
our  clothing  and  underwear  are  specially  designed  and  made  for 
our  trade.  You  cannot  be  too  careful  regarding  the  quality  of  the 
clothing  you  select  when  starting  to  the  Yukon  gold  fields,  as  it 
will  be  impossible  to  uprchase  clothing  while  in  the  interior,  so  the 
clothing  you  start  with  must  last  you  until  your  return.  We  do 
not  carry  inferior  or  trashy  goods.  NOT  HOW  CHEAP,  BUT 
HOW  GOOD,  is  what  we  strive  for  in  our  Alaska  clothing. 


MackinawSf 

Sweaters^ 

BlanketSf 


Corduroy  Clothings 

Artie  Underwear^ 

Flannel  Shirts^ 

German  Socksi  Scarfs, 

Artie  Soeksi  MittSi 

Blanket  Lined  Duek  Clothing, 

Whatever  you  find  in  our  stock  is  of  guaranteed   quality.     If 
there  was  better  quality  you'd  find  it  here. 


The  MacDougall 

L  Southwick  Co, 

Nos.  717,  719,  721,  723  First  Avenue 
Seattle,  W^ashington. 


.^^d^ 


COPYRIGHTED 

1897. 


'^^^sr 


GUIDE 


TO  THE 


KLONDIKE 


—AND  THE— 


YUKON  GOLD  FIELDS 


•IN- 


ALASKA  AND  NORTHWEST  TERRITORIES. 


CONTAINING — HISTORY  OF  THE   DISCOVERY — ROUTES  OF 

TRAVEL — NECES.SARY     OUTFIT — GENERAL    AND 

USEFUL     INFORMATION  —  LARGE     MAP 

CORRECTED  UP  TO  DATE  FROM 

LATEST     OFFICIAL 

SURVEYS. 


PUBLISHED  BY 

LOWMAN  &  HANFORU  STATIONERY  AND  PRINTING  CO. 

Seattle,  Washington. 

1897. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Introductory  3 

Chapter  I.     History  of  the  Yukon  Gold  Fields 7 

Chapter  II.     History  of  the  Klondike 16 

Chapter  III.     "What  the  Klondike  has  Produced 25 

Chapter  IV.     The  Routes  of  Travel    32 

The  Chilkoot  Pass  Route 34 

The  White  Pass  Route 52 

The  Chilkat  Pass  Route 55 

The  Taku  Route 56 

The  Stickeen  Route 56 

Chapter  V.     The  all  Water  Route 61 

Chapter  VI.     The  Necessary  Outfits  and  Where  to  get  Them  .  67 

Chapter  VII.     Climate  and  Agricultural  Possibilities 76 

Chapter  VIII.     Game  and  Fish So 

Chapter  IX.     Coal  and  Quartz 82 

Chapter  X.     Canadian  Government's  Oppressive  Policy 85 

Chapter  XI.     The  American  Mines 89 

Chapter  XII.     The  Diseases  to  be  Guarded  Against 94 

Conclusion 96 

APPENOIX. 

Table  of  Distances 97 

Useful  Notes  for  Miners 98 

Seattle  Price  List 99 

Placer  Mining  logulations  of  the  Northwest  Territories 100 

Alaska  Mining  Laws 107 

Finis    114 

Amendments  to  the  Mining  Regulations  of  the   Northwest 

Territories 115 


INTRODUCTION. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Since  the  news  of  the  wonderful  discoveries  upon  the 
Klondike  River  in  Northwest  Territory  has  gone  forth 
there  has  been  an  overwhelming  demand,  coming  from  all 
parts  of  the  world,  for  authentic  information,  not  only  as  to 
the  extent  and  character  of  this  particular  mining  district, 
but  as  to  the  whole  Yukon  mineral  region  in  Alaska.  More 
especially  is  there  a  general  request  for  information  as  to 
the  routes  of  travel;  the  means  of  access  to  the  country; 
the  cost  of  reaching  it  by  the  various  routes;  the  necessary 
outfits,  their  cost  and  constituents;  and,  in  jreneral,  all  of 
those  particular  points  about  which  the  intending  immi- 
grant to  the  new  gold  fields  desires  to  inform  himself  before 
entering  upon  the  long  and  hazardous  journey  to  the 
Yukon  Country. 

This  pamphlet  attempts  to  furnish  in  a  concise  form 
and  at  a  small  price  all  such  information.  The  compiler  of 
it  has  made  use  of  all  sources  of  original  information  upon 
the  subject  which  are  obtainable.  Every  existing  work 
upon  Alaska  and  the  Yukon  Country  has  been  consulted; 
every  newspaper  article  upon  the  Klondike  has  been  exam- 
ined; letters  by  the  score  from  those  now  in  that  country 
to  relatives  and  friends  have  been  read;  nearly  every  person 
now  resident  in  this  state,  who  has  made  the  voyage  down 
the  Yukon,  or  who  has  a  personal  knowledge  of  the  new 

Pacific  N.  W.  History  D-r5t. 

.  PROVINCIAL  LIBRARY 

41546  VICTORIA,  B.O. 


C.UIDK  TO  THK   KI.ONDIKK. 


gold  fields,  has  been  interviewed.  A  careful  examination 
and  comparison  of  the  data  tluis  obtained  has  been  at- 
tempted, and  from  the  vast  mass  thus  collated  it  is  proposed 
to  reproduce  in  this  pamphlet  a  concise,  accurate  and  ex- 
hanstive  report,  coverin<;  every  point  of  imjuiry  which 
would  naturally  sui^gest  itself  to  the  seeeker  after  informa- 
tion upon  the  subject. 

It  is  not  pretended  that  this  is  a  work  of  original  re- 
search, or  a  record  of  personal  experiences.  The  task  set 
to  the  compiler  has  Veen  more  editorial  than  literary  in  its 
character.  All  statements  made  have  been  carefully  exam- 
ined, compared  and  tested.  The  experience  of  one  person 
has  been  verified  by  that  of  others.  The  principal  aim  has 
been  to  secure  perfect  accuracy  of  statement,  and  to  make 
this  pamphlet  of  practical  value;  in  short,  to  furnish  in  a 
convenient  form  and  as  concisely  as  possible  all  existing 
information  upon  the  subject. 

The  scope  of  the  work  includes  a  brief  history  of  all  the 
gold  discoveries  made  upon  the  Yukon  and  its  tributaries, 
a  particular  history  of  the  discoveries  upon  the  Klondike 
and  tributaries;  the  best  obtainable  information  as  to  the 
actual  amount  so  far  mined  and  brought  out  of  the  counti'y; 
and  the  prospective  output  of  Klondike  Mining  District; 
the  various  routes  of  travel,  with  their  advantages  and  dis- 
advantages; the  necessary  outfits,  their  constituents  and 
their  cost;  and  the  best  places  for  purchasing  the  same. 
On  the  general  subject  of  the  history  of  gold  discoveries 
upon  the  Yukon  the  editor  owes  a  special  obligation  to 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

iMincr  W.  Hnicc,  whose  woik  upon  Ahi^kji  has  been  i.:^c\y 
drawn  upon  for  inroniintion  upon  tliis  subject. 

The  information  as  to  the  I'oute  of  travel  down  the 
Yukon  from  Dyea  via  the  ChiLkoot  and  White  Passes  is 
largely  from  personal  information  obtained  from  men  who 
liave  traveled  over  this  i-outc  dozens  of  times  in  the  last 
twelve  years.  I'se  is  also  made  ol'  the  exhaustive  report 
made  by  George  M.  Dawson,  I).  S.,  F.  G.  S.,  to  the  Domin- 
ion Government,  on  his  surveys  and  explorations  of  this 
I'oute  from  the  mouth  oC  Pelly  Hiver  to  the  Chilkoot  and 
White  Passes,  and  from  later  rei)orts  by  William  Ogilvie, 
Dominion  Land  Surveyor,  who  lias  been  in  ebarsje  of  the 
International  JUmndary  Survey  for  many  j'oars  past.  In 
many  eases  where  the  estimates  of  distances  l^  -twecn  points 
on  the  river  h.ive  varied.  Dawson's  estimates  have  been  ac- 
cepted as  the  final  authority. 


^^' 


*"■««  \'>  lis.:        /^ 


L 


1 "  •'■  ^-I'^^^tff^'' 


HISTORY  OF  THE  YUKON   GOI,D   FIKI,DS. 


CHAPTER  I. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  YUKON  GOLD  FIELDS. 


O 

< 

a 


The  information  contained  in  the  following  pages  as  to 
the  earlier  gold  discoveries  on  the  Yukon  is  largely  com- 
piled from  the  Report  of  an  Exploration  in  the  Yukon  Dis- 
trict of  N.  W.  T.  and  the  Adjacent  Northern  Portion  of 
British  Columbia,  made  to  the  Director  of  the  Geological 
and  Natural  History  Survey  of  Canada,  by  George  M.  Daw- 
son, D.  S.,  F.  G.  S. 

No  refer'^nce  is  made  to  the  discovery  of  gold  in  any  por- 
tion of  the  Yukon  waters  earlier  than  that  given  by  Mr.  F. 
Whymper,  who  in  his  ''Travels  in  Alaska  and  on  the  Yu- 
kon," published  in  London  in  1869,  says:  "It  is  worthy  of 
mention  that  minute  specks  of  gold  have  been  found  by 
some  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company's  men  in  the  Yukon,  but 
not  in  quantities  to  warrant  a  rush  to  the  locality." 

The  first  white  man  who  crossed  from  the  coast  to 
the  headwaters  of  the  Lewes  (the  Upper  Yukon,  which 
heads  in  Lake  Lindeman),  according  to  the  best  obtainable 
information  was  one  George  Holt,  aftenvards  murdered  by 
the  Indians  at  Cook's  Inlet  in  1885.  The  date  of  Holt's 
journey  was  in  1878.  He  was  acompanied  by  one  or  more 
Indians  and  crossed  by  the  Chilkoot  or  the  White  Pass  to 
the  head  of  the  Lewes.  He  followed  the  river  down  to  the 
head  of  Lake  Marsh  and  walked  over  the  Indian  trail  thence 


HM 


8 


GUIDE  TO  THE   KLONDIKE. 


to  the  Tcs-liii-to  or  Ilootalinqiia  River.  On  his  return  he 
reported  tlie  discovery  of  "coarse  gold,"  but  none  of  the 
miners  who  afterwards  prospected  the  region  mentioned 
have  been  able  to  confirm  his  report  in  this  particular.  The 
date  and  route  above  given  are  the  result  of  inquiry  among 
miners  who  knew  him,  followed  his  route  through  the  coun- 
try named,  and  came  in  contact  with  tlie  Indians  whom  he 
had  met.  Jn  some  publications  he  has  been  credited  with 
having  made  the  journey  as  early  as  18T2. 

8f)me  years  later,  in  1880,  a  prospecting  party  of  nine- 
tee]!  men  was  organized  at  Sitka,  under  the  leadership  of 
one  Kdward  Bean.  It  afterwards  received  accessions,  bring- 
ing the  number  up  to  twenty-five.  xVmicable  relations  were 
established  with  the  Chilkat  and  Chilkoot  Indians,  through 
the  kind  offices  of  Captain  (now  Admiral)  Beardsley,  U.  S. 
N.,  and  the  Chilkoot  Pass  was  crossed  to  Lake  Lindeman. 
Boats  were  built  on  Lake  Lindeman,  and  on  the  4th  of  July 
the  prospectors  set  out  down  the  stream.  The  Tes-lin-too 
was  reached;  was  ascended  sonfe  distance  and  prospected. 
Xo  encouraging  jirospects  were  met  with  at  this  time, 
thougli  11.  Steel,  who  was  one  of  the  party,  states  that  he 
found  bars  yielding  at  the  rate  of  $2.50  a  day  in  a  small 
stream  M'hich  joins  the  Lewes  fifteen  miles  above  the  can- 
yon. This  large  party  was  closely  followed  by  two  miners 
known  as  Johnny  MacKenzie  and  "Slim  Jim,"  who  reached 
Lake  Lindeman  on  July  3d.  It  is  believed  that  other  par- 
ties entered  the  country  the  same  year. 

In  1881  a  party  of  four  miners,  including  George  Lang- 
try,  who  was  one  of  the  original  party  of  twenty-five,  again 
crossed  the  Chilkoot  Pass.  Tliese  men  got  as  far  as  Big 
Salmon  lliver,  which  they  called  the  Tyon.  They  ac- 
cended  the  J:lig  Salmon,  according  to  their  estimate,  some 
two  hundred  miles,  finding  a  little  gold  all  along  its  course- 
and  meeting  with  some  remunerative  river  bars.     This  was 


HISTORY  OF  THE  YUKON   GOI.D   FIELDS.  9 

the  first  discovery  of  paying  placer  properties  on  any  por- 
tion of  the  Yukon  or  its  tributaries. 

In  1882  a  number  of  miners  entered  the  Yukon  Country 
by  the  Chilkoot  Pass,  and  probably  during  the  same  season, 
but  certainly  not  before,  two  prospecting  parties  ascended 
the  Pelly  to  Hoole  Canyon,  and  some  of  the  men  appear  to 
have  gone  even  further  up. 

Details  of  tlie  mining  operations  of  188;3  are  not  obtain- 


^■^::iS^>ii^-:ii^i 


wm^ 


FORTY-MILE   CRKEK. 


able,  although  several  small  parties  were  in  the  country  and 
some  mining  was  done.  It  was  this  year  that  Lieutenant 
Schwatka  crossed  the  Chilkoot  Pass  and  descended  the 
Yukon  to  the  sea.  In  1884  a  little  mining  was  done  on  the 
Pelly  and  on  the  Hootalinqua,  and  possibly  also  on  the 
Lewes,  In  1 885  mining  was  done  along  the  Stewart  Kiver, 
and  in  the  following  year  the  greater  portion  of  the  mining 
population  was  engaged  on  that  river.  Cassiar  Bar,  on  the 
Lewes,  twenty -seven  miles  below  the  Hootalinqua,  was  dis- 
covered in  the  s))ring  of  1880.  and  actively  worked  during 
the  same  summer. 


10 


GUIDE  TO  THE  KLONDIKE. 


ill 

I  i  I 


i! 


!  i 


i  r 


A 


Late  in  the  autumn  of  1886  "coarse  gold"  was  found  on 
Forty-Mile  Creek,  still  further  down  the  main  river  than  the 
Stewart,  and  the  announcement  of  the  fact  drew  off  nearly 
the  entire  mining  population  to  this  place  in  1887. 

The  first  news  of  the  discoveries  on  Forty-Mile  was 
brought  to  the  coast  by  a  man  named  Tom  Williams. 
Williams  made  the  trip  out  in  the  dead  of  winter  with  a 
dog-team  and  sled,  and  was  accompanied  by  an  Indian  boy. 
His  trip  was  one  of  the  hardest  which  has  ever  been  recorded 
in  the  history  of  the  Yukon.  The  weather  was  intensely 
cold  and  stormv.  Before  reaching  Lake  Bennett  all  of  his 
dogs  had  died  from  cold  and  exhaustion.  While  attempting 
to  cross  the  Chilkoot  Pass  a  storm  came  up,  and  Williams 
and  his  companion  were  compelled  to  hastily  build  a  snow- 
hut  on  the  summit,  and  stop  there  ten  days,  with  no  pro- 
visions except  a  little  flour.  When  the  storm  passed  Will- 
iams was  so  badly  used  up  that  he  was  unable  to  proceed, 
but  his  Indian  comyianion  carried  him  out  on  his  back 
through  the  snowdrifts  and  down  the  mountain  gorges  to 
Dyea,  a  distance  of  sixteen  miles.  Williams  died  within  a 
few  days  after  reaching  Dyea,  from  the  effects  of  his  fearful 
trip.  This  was  but  one  of  many  like  tragedies  with  which 
the  early  history  of  ])rospecting  upon  the  Yukon  was  filled. 

The  object  of  Williams'  journey  at  this  season  of  the 
year  was  to  communicate  the  news  of  the  discoveries  to  Jack 
McQuestion,  the  agent  and  storekeeper  of  the  Alaska  Com- 
mercial Company  at  the  trading  post  of  that  company  at  the 
mouth  of  Forty-Mile.  McQuestion  was  in  San  Francisco, 
from  which  place  he  was  to  return  in  a  few  weeks  l)y  the 
way  of  St.  Michael's  and  up  the  river.  It  was  known  that 
when  the  news  of  the  discoveries  reached  the  coast  there 
would  be  a  rush  to  the  mines,  and  unless  the  trading  com- 
panies learned  of  the  fact  in  time  to  supply  the  stores 
heavily,  there  was  a  prospect  of  great  suffering  and  possibly 


HISTORY  OF  THE  YUKON  GOtD   KIEI^DS. 


II 


starvation  before  those  who  ventured  into  the  country  with- 
out a  full  supply  of  provisions. 

Several  hundred  men  did  go  into  the  Yukon  on  the 
strength  of  the  word  brought  out  by  Williams,  and  in  the 
spring  active  mining  operations  commenced,  and  have  ever 
since  been  conducted  on  Forty-Mile.  Upwards  of  two 
million  dollars  in  gold  has  been  taken  out  of  that  stream 
and  its  small  tributaries.     The  influx  to  the  Yukon  caused 


JOK   LA   due's   house,   SIXTY-MILE   CREEK. 


by  the  news  of  the  strikes  on  Forty-Mile  led  to  the  prospect- 
ing _,  other  creeks,  on  many  of  which  good  results  have 
been  found.  Miller  Creek,  which  up  to  the  time  of  the 
discoveries  on  the  Klondike  was  the  banner  district  on  the 
Yukon,  is  a  tributary  of  Sixty-Mile  Creek,  entering  it  about 
seventy  miles  from  its  mouth.  The  mouth  of  Sixty-Mile, 
with  some  fifty  miles  of  the  str^-^m  and  its  tributaries,  is  in 


12 


GUIDE  TO  THE  KLONDIKE. 


I? 


Northwest  Territory,  but  Miller  Creek  lies  wholly  in  Alaska. 
In  1892  prospecting  began  on  Miller  Creek,  and  many  rich 
claims  were  located.  One  claim  alone  yielded  thirty-seven 
thousand  dollars  of  the  yellow  metal,  and  one  clean-up  of 
eleven  hundred  ounces  was  reported.  Until  the  strikes  on 
the  Klondike  were  reported  there  were  about  two  hundred 
men  located  on  Miller  Creek,  but  the  number  is  consider- 
ably less  at  the  present  time,  the  later  and  richer  discovery 
having  called  away  all  except  the  owners  of  the  richer 
claims. 

Glacier  Creek,  another  tributary  of  Sixty-Mile,  running 
nearly  parallel  to  Miller  Creek,  has  also  developed  some 
promising  claims,  although  the  first  prospecting  on  it  was 
not  done  until  the  summer  of  181)4.  Another  creek  on 
which  claims  have  been  located  and  profitably  worked  for 
many  years  past  is  Birch  Creek,  Avhicli  runs  parallel  with  the 
Yukon  for  nearly  three  hundred  miles  before  finally  empty- 
ing into  it.  A  portage  of  six  miles  across  from  Circle  City 
on  the  Yukon  strikes  Birch  Creek  four  hundred  miles  above 
its  junction  with  the  Yukon.  In  1894  and  1895  Birch 
Creek  and  its  famous  tributaries  attracted  more  attention 
than  any  other  i)ortion  of  the  Alaska  gold  fields.  Three 
hundred  miners  wintered  in  there  in  1895-9G,  and  last  year 
the  number  largely  increased.  As  high  as  thirteen  dollars 
to  the  pan  was  found,  and  forty  to  fifty  dollars  a  day  to  the 
man  was  made  on  some  of  the  claims  when  they  were  fciiriy 
opened.  Crooked  Creek,  Indey)endence,  Mastodon,  Nooly- 
mute  and  Preacher  Creek,  all  tributaries  of  Birch  Creek, 
have  been  prospected  since  1893,  and  on  each  of  them  fairly 
profitable  claims  have  been  worked. 

On  Koyukuk  River  and  its  tributaries  some  good  dis- 
coveries were  made  as  far  back  as  1892,  and  a  few  claims 
have  been  worked  on  this  stream  and  its  tributaries  since 


HISTORY  OF  THE   YUKON   GOI.D   FIELDS. 


13 


that  date.     This  is  as  far  down  the  Yukon  as  placer  mining 
lias  been  done  up  to  the  present  time. 

All  the  streams  mentioned  above,  with  the  exception  of 
a  few  miles  of  Forty-Mile  and  Sixty-Mile  Creeks,  lie  wholly 
within  the  limits  of  Alaska.  It  was  not  until  the  year  1896 
that  any  discoveries  of  importance  were  made  on  the  streams 
in  the  Northwest  Territory.  Of  the  streams  lying  wholly 
in  the  Northwest  Territory  which  had  been  prospected  up 
until  tlio  summer  of  1896  but  Indian  Creek  and  Stewart 
Kiver  have  come  into  any  prominence,  and  these  latter  have 
been  so  dwarfed  by  the  greater  fame  which  has  attached  to 
the  Klondike  that  but  little  is  heard  of  them  at  present, 
Indian  Creek,  wliich  euipties  iuto  the  Yukon  a  few  miles 
above  the  Klondike,  has  beeen  prospected  with  indifferent 
success  for  the  past  three  years.  Colors  are  found  on  every 
bar,  and  a  large  number  of  claims  have  been  located  on  it 
and  its  tributaries.  Some  of  these  tributaries  head  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  divide  from  Eldorado  and  Bonanza 
Creeks  on  the  Klondike,  and  within  a  very  few  miles  of 
them.  The  very  latest  reports  from  the  Yukon  indicate 
that  on  Indian  Creek  some  good  discoveries  have  been  made 
the  present  summer,  and  some  very  profitable  mines  Avill  be 
opened  within  another  season. 

Stewart  River,  the  largest  of  all  the  streams  in  Xoi-tli- 
west  Territory  trilmtary  to  the  Yukon,  with  the  exception 
of  Pelly  Kiver,  is  now  occupying  a  fair  share  of  attention. 
Xo  definite  and  reliable  reports  have  yet  come  from  tlie 
Stewart  River,  although  there  are  many  old-time  Yukoners 
who  look  to  it  as  the  future  great  rival  of  the  Klondike 
i-egion.  A  very  large  numl)er  of  those  who  are  now  going 
into  the  Yukon  have  for  their  objective  point  the  Stcnvart 
and  its  tributaries. 

The  latest  discoveries  reported  are  on  Henderson  Creek, 
which  empties  into  the  Yukon  a  short  distance  below  the 


14 


GUIDE  TO  THE   KLONDIKE. 


Stewart.  On  this  creek  two  hundred  claims  have  been 
located  the  present  summer.  Prospects  are  as  good  as  were 
shown  on  the  Klondike  at  the  time  of  its  discovery  last 
summer,  and  well-informed  Yukon  miners  look  upon  Hen- 
derson Creek  as  a  place  from  which  a  large  amount  of  wealth 
will  l)c  extracted  next  season. 

Year  by  year,  since  1883,  the  mining  population  of  the 
Yukon  has  slowly  augmented,  without  at  any  time  there 
having  been  any  such  frenzied  rush  as  marks  the  first  stages 
of  development  of  most  new  mining  regions.  Trading  posts 
have  gradually  been  established,  sufficiently  equipped  to 
supply  the  needs  of  those  on  the  ground,  and  in- 
creased transportation.  During  the  spring  and  sum- 
mer of  1896,  and  during  the  early  spring  of  the  pres- 
ent year,  has  occurred  the  first  movement  which  ap- 
proached in  its  dimensions  the  nature  of  a  rush.  The  busi- 
ness depression  which  has  long  prevailed  left  hundreds  of 
men  out  of  employment,  and  as  the  news  of  the  discoveries 
on  the  Yukon  gradually  came  to  light  there  was  a  general 
feeling  among  those  who  had  failed  to  procure  profitable 
employment  in  the  State  of  Washington  that  possibly  the 
Yukon  might  afford  them  a  livelihood,  which  they  were 
having  difficulty  in  procuring  at  home.  A  rivalry  which 
broke  out  among  the  transportation  companies  accelerated 
this  movement.  In  the  spring  of  1896  fares  from  Seattle  to 
Dyea  were  reduced  at  one  time  to  a  point  as  low  as  five 
dollars  for  second-class  passage.  Thousands  took  advan- 
tage of  the  offer,  and  during  the  spring  and  summer  of  that 
year  the  Chilkoot  Pass  was  thronged  with  gold-seekers  on 
their  way  to  the  Y'ukon.  No  news  of  important  discoveries 
came  out  that  year,  and  in  the  spring  of  the  present  year, 
while  the  immigration  was  relatively  large,  it  did  not  wit- 
ness the  proportions  seen  in  1896.  During  the  past  two 
years  and  up  to  the  time  that  word  of  the  wonderful  riches 


■I 


HISTORY  OF  THE  KI.ONDIKR 


15 


of  the  Klondike  came  out,  the  mining  population  of  the 
Yukon  was  augmented  by  about  four  thousand  people,  of 
whom  probably  one-half  at  least  were  residents  of  the  State 
of  Washington  prior  to  their  going  into  the  gold  fields. 

This  chapter  is  but  a  faintly-outlined  sketcli  of  the 
mining  history  of  the  Yukon.  The  various  rivers  and 
creeks  named  cover  a  territory  twenty-eight  degrees  of 
longitude  by  eight  of  latitude  in  extent.  Scattered  over 
this  vast  territory  there  are  a  few  thousand  miners.  Com- 
munication between  them  has  been  scanty,  and  often  abso- 
lutely cut  off  for  half  a  year  at  a  time.  Practically  no  mail 
facilities  have  existed.  Often  a  discovery  has  been  made  by 
a  prospector,  who  has  settled  down  to  work  his  claim,  and 
nothing  is  heard  of  the  matter  until  he  comes  down  to  some 
trading  post  a  year  later,  to  exchange  his  dust  for  another 
year's  supply  of  provisions.  From  the  points  on  the  Pelly 
where  prospecting  has  been  carried  on,  to  like  points  on  the 
Koyukuk,  the  actual  distance  is  greater  than  from  Seattle 
to  Chicago,  and  the  Journey  means  thousands  of  miles  travel 
down  one  swift  and  turbulent  stream,  and  hundreds  of  miles 
of  like  travel  up  such  another  stream. 

More  than  ten  thousand  miles  of  water-wavs  are  tribu- 
tary  to  the  Yukon,  in  the  region  where  gold  is  known  to 
exist,  and  on  all  streams  prospected  gold  has  been  found  in 
greater  or  less  quantities. 

Under  such  circumstances,  all  the  information  which 
can  be  obtained  is  necessarily  vague,  general  and  somewhat 
indefinite  in  character,  save  as  to  the  better-known  and 
longest-worked  districts. 

There  is,  however,  one  mining  district  in  the  Yukon, 
and  that  the  one  to  which  public  attention  is  being  now 
directed,  about  which  the  amplest,  fullest,  and  most  accur- 
ate information  is  at  hand.     That  region  is  the  Klondike. 


■■> 


i6 


GUIDE  TO  THK   KI.ONDIKK. 


CHAPTER  II. 


1" 


HISTORY  OF  THE  KLONDIKE. 

The  original  discoverer  of  the  great  placers  in  the  min- 
ing district  known  generally  as  the  Klondike  was  G.  W. 
Carmach,  a  native  of  Illinois.  Mr.  Carmach  was  not  a  ten- 
derfoot, neither  were  his  discoveries  made  by  accident,  nor 
in  a  place  which  had  heretofore  been  unknown.  The  Klon- 
dike and  its  tributaries  had  been  visited  by  prospectors 
dozens  of  times  before  ]\[r.  Carmach  finally  commenced  his 
systematic  work,  which  resulted  in  the  uncovering  of  the 
greatest  placer  deposits  which  have  ever  been  found  on  the 
American  Continent.  Carmach  has  been  in  the  Yukon  for 
more  than  ten  years.  He  made  that  country  his  home,  and 
had  it  not  been  for  his  sudden  accession  to  wealth  he  might 
have  remained  there  until  the  day  of  his  death.  He  is  mar- 
ried to  an  Indian  woman  of  the  Stick  tribe,  and  has  two 
children  born  to  him.  He  has  worked  at  all  kinds  of  labor 
such  as  could  be  found  in  a  country  like  the  Yukon.  He 
has  been  a  hunter,  an  employe  of  the  trading  companies,  a 
prospector,  miner,  fisherman,  and  was  employed  for  a  time 
on  the  International  Boundary  Survey.  His  home  for 
many  years  past  has  been  with  the  Sticks  at  Takish  House, 
on  the  chain  of  lakes  that  form  the  source  of  the  coastward 
arm  of  the  Yukon.  The  Klondike  has  the  name  of  being 
the  greatest  salmon  stream  of  any  of  the  affluents  of  the 
Yukon.  Last  summer  Carmach  camped  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Klondike,  and  with  a  number  of  Indians  to  assist 
him  caught  and  cured  a  very  large  number  of  salmon. 

After  the  salmon  run  was  over,  in  accordance  with  his 
previously  declared  intention,  he  started  out  to  make  a  sys- 


HISTORY  OF  THE   KI^ONDIKE. 


17 


tematic  prospecting  trip  up  the  Klondike,  from  which  pre- 
vious prospectors  had  returned  discouraged.  In  the  latter 
part  of  July  he  took  two  Indians  and  a  small  stock  of  pro- 
visions and  started  up  the  Klondike.  He  took  the  first 
considerable  tributary  which  appeared,  to  the  right,  and 
went  up  it  a  few  miles  to  where  conditions  were  favorable 
for  prospecting.  Gold  was  found  in  encouraging  quantities 
on  every  bar.  For  twenty  miles  or  more  he  followed  the 
windings  of  the  stream,  panning  on  every  bar,  until  he 
finally  decided  upon  the  spot  to  locate  his  claim.  He  went 
out  and  returned  with  provisions  enough  to  set  to  work,  and 
with  his  wife  and  two  brothers-in-law  (Indians)  started  in 
at  systematic  mining  on  August  15.  The  gravel  was  carried 
by  the  three  men  in  a  box  from  the  claim  to  the  creek,  a 
distance  of  from  thirty  to  one  hundred  feet.  In  eight  days 
the  three  men,  in  this  crude  manner,  washed  out  fourteen 
hundred  dollars,  and  the  fame  of  Bonanza  Creek  was  estab- 
lished. 

Before  the  men  got  fairly  to  work  the  news  had  leaked 
out.  In  fact,  Carmach  made  no  secret  of  it,  and  endeavored 
to  inform  his  friends  as  speedily  as  possible.  By  August 
19  seven  claims  were  filed.  The  news  of  the  wonderful 
discoveries  passed  down  the  river,  but  was  at  first  dis- 
credited. Nevertheless,  by  the  1st  of  October,  some  two 
hundred  men  were  on  the  ground,  and  Eldorado  Creek,  a 
branch  of  Bonanza,  was  prospected  and  demonstrated  to  be 
as  rich  or  richer  than  the  first  discovery.  Then  commenced 
that  wonderful  rivalry  as  to  amount  of  gold  to  be  found  in 
a  single  miner's  pan  of  dirt,  which  reads,  even  to  this  day, 
when  the  facts  have  been  fully  authenticated,  more  like  a 
page  out  of  a  romance  than  a  sober  recital  of  actual  experi- 
ence. The  winter  had  set  in,  the  creeks  were  sealed,  and 
the  only  way  of  getting  any  portion  of  the  wealth  out  of  the 
ground  was  by  the  primitive  prospector's  plan  of  panning. 


1 


I! 


18 


GUIDE  TO  THE   KI^ONDIKE. 


I': 
I  111  ■' 


Through  a  hole  in  tlic  ice  water  could  be  obtained  in  tjiian- 
tities  sutTicicnt  for  this  method  of  working. 

On  November  23  L.  11  IJhoads,  who  had  located  claim 
No.  21,  on  Bonanza  Creek,  took  out  $65.30  to  a  single  pan 
of  dirt.  Word  of  this  went  down  to  Circle  City,  where 
four  or  five  hundred  miners  were  wintering,  and  then 
commenced  the  most  remarkable  exodus  which  the  Yukon 
had  yet  witnessed.  In  the  depth  of  winter,  with  the  ther- 
mometer hovering  around  in  the  neighborhood  of  GO  de- 
grees below  zero,  nearly  the  entire  population  of  Circle  City 
at  once  started  for  the  scene  of  the  rich  discoveries.  Every 
dog  team  and  every  pack  animal  in  the  camp  were  pressed 
into  service,  and  those  who  had  neither,  packed  their  stock 
of  provisions  on  hand  sleds  and  started.  Tlie  distance  was 
300  miles  up  stream,  but  every  man  who  started  made  the 
trip  without  any  other  casualty  than  a  few  frost  bites  for 
the  especially  unlucky  or  ill-provided  individuals- 
Clarence  Berry,  who  was  one  of  the  lucky  ones  to  get 
early  on  the  ground  in  Eldorado  Creek,  took  out  one  $100 
pan  and  later  a  pan  w-hich  went  $280.  On  March  5,  a  pan 
taken  from  the  bottom  of  the  shaft  on  Thorp  &  Stewart's 
claim  showed  $282.50,  and  from  fourteen  pans  $1,565  was 
obtained.  On  March  20,  Clarence  Berry  took  out  a  $300 
pan,  and  on  Ai)ril  13,  one  which  went  $495.  Erom  that 
time  on  panning  gave  way  to  sluicing,  as  the  thaws  had  set 
in  and  water  became  plentiful. 

In  the  meantime  other  tril)utaries  of  the  Klondike  had 
been  prospected  and  showed  nearly  as  well  as  Bonanza  and 
Eldorado  Creeks.  On  Tilly  Creek  175  claims  were  staked; 
Bear  Creek  was  pxeity  well  located,  as  well  as  Gold  Bottom 
and  Hunker  Creeks.  There  is  a  creek  still  higher  up, 
called  by  the  Indians  Too  Much  Gold  Creek,  of  the  richness 
of  which  the  most  fabulous  stories  are  told,  but  about  which 


HISTORY  OF  THK   KI.ONDIKE. 


19 


nothino:  authentic  was  really  known  at  the  time  the  last 
news  came  out  of  the  Klondike  country. 

The  extraordinary  and  unprecedented  richness  of  tho 
claims,  as  demonstrated  hy  the  prospecting  and  panning, 
was  such  that  the  fortunate  locators  of  claims  could  not 
wait  for  the  sj)ring  thaws  to  commence  oj)eratioi  s.  The 
ground  was  covered  by  a  coating  of  moss  a  foot  in  thickness 
and  under  this  gravel  was  frozen  solid  to  bed  rock.  Bed 
rock  was  from  nine  to  twenty-four  feet  down,  and  the  rich 
pay  streak  was  from  one  to  three  feet  thick  just  above  the 
bed  rock.  The  moss  was  stripi)ed  off  the  surface  and  fires 
built  to  thaw  the  ground.  As  fast  as  thawed,  it  was  shov- 
eled out  on  the  dump  and  in  this  manner  a  shaft  was  sunk 
to  bed  rock.  From  the  foot  of  the  shaft,  by  the  same  use 
of  fires  to  thaw  the  frozen  gravel,  drifts  were  driven  along 
tho  bed  rock,  and  the  gravel  in  the  pay  streak  taken  to  tho 
surface  and  placed  on  the  dump.  Every  energy  was  bent 
to  have  as  much  gravel  in  sight  as  possible,  so  that  when 
tho  water  came  in  the  spring,  sluicing  could  commonco 
at  once,  J'ld  the  entire  force  could  commence  shoveling 
the  gravel  into  the  sluice  boxes. 

The  demand  for  labor  ran  high.  Every  claim  owner 
wished  to  employ  as  many  men  as  possible,  in  order  to  clean 
up  as  large  a  portion  of  his  claim  as  could  be  done  the  first 
season.  Wages  soon  reached  the  figure  of  fifteen  dollars 
per  day,  and  remained  at  that,  at  last  accounts.  At 
these  figures  some  three  hundred  or  four  hundred  men 
were  employed  besides  the  mine  owners.  In  addition 
to  mining,  sluice  boxes  were  being  built,  dams  put 
in  the  creek,  and  ditches  dug  to  carry  the  water  into 
the  sluice  boxes.  Many  claims  were  w<trked  on  shares,  by 
those  who  did  not  have  the  means  to  employ  and  pay 
miners  at  the  ruling  rate  of  wages.  In  most  instances, 
however,  where  men  were  employed;  a  few  pans  taken  from 


20 


O.UIDE  TO   THE    KLONDIKE. 


'  H 


M 


the  dump  and  panned  out  at  the  end  of  the  week,  produced 
sufficient  to  pay  the  labor  bills,  and  buy  the  claim  owner 
the  necessary  provisions,  as  well  as  to  allow  him  a  little 
over  with  which  to  take  in  the  attractions  of  metropolitan 
life,  for  a  city  had  sprung  into  being. 

Joseph  La  Due,  one  of  the  pioneer  traders  of  the 
Yukon,  who  had  been  in  that  country  since  1882, 
was  one  of  those  early  on  the  ground.  He  had  been 
engaged   in   mining,    in   trading,    in    operating    a   saw- 


STEAMER    LANDING    FIRST  SUPPLIKS   AT   DAWSON   CITY,    JUNK.    1897. 

mill,  and  for  a  time  even  had  engaged  in  the  appar- 
ently hopeless  pursuit  of  farming.  He  had  attempted  to 
raise  vegetables  in  the  neighborhood  of  Fort  Selkirk,  but 
early  frosts  blighted  his  crop  and  his  farming  aspirations 
at  one  and  the  same  time.  When  the  news  of  the  rich 
discoveries  broke  out  he  was  engaged  in  running  a  sawmill 
at  Sixty-Mile,  a  trading  post  some  fifty  miles  up  the  river 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Klondike.  Mr.  La  Due  promptly 
moved  the  sawmill  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Klondike. 
Here  he  selected  a  level  piece  of  ground,  with  a  good  land- 


HISTORY   OK   THlv    KUONDIKI-:. 


21 


reduced 

1  owner 

a  little 

Dpolitan 

of  the 
;  1882, 
id  been 
a   saw- 


897. 

appar- 
pted  to 
rk,  but 
irations 
lie  rich 
sawmill 
le  river 
'omptly 
ondike. 
d  land- 


ing on  the  river  and  established  a  town,  whicli  hv  named 
Dawsoii  City,  after  the  gentleman  who  had  charge  of  the 
first  suiTeying  party  for  the  Canadian  Government,  wliich 
went  in  to  establish  th-e  international  boundary  in  1887. 
From  tlie  time  the  sawmill  was  established  it  had  all  it 
r-"uld  do  to  supply  the  demand  for  Inmber  for  sluice  boxes 
and  houses  at  one  liundred  dollars  ])er  thousand  feet  and 
upwards.  Men  stood  in  line  to  file  their  orders,  and  waited 
for  days  to  have  them  tilled.  While  the  nearest  mines  are 
three  miles  away  and  the  richest  claims  fully  twelve  miles 
off,  Dawson  City  has  been  the  mining  cam])  of  tlie  counti-y 
ever  since  it  started.  Before  spring  opened  it  had  a  popu- 
lation of  })robably  twelve  hundred,  housed  in  tents,  in  log 
cabins,  in  rough  board  houses  and  in  shacks  compounded 
in  part  of  all  of  these. 

Five  saloons  were  running  in  full  blast  before  the 
spring  opened,  and  each  one  was  taking  in  from  three  hun- 
dred to  two  thousand  dolhirs  a  day,  with  whisky  at  fifty 
cents  a  drink  and  beer  the  same.  Every  conceiv- 
able kind  of  gambling  game  was  in  operation;  and  dance 
houses  wore  in  full  blast,  for  daring  and  hardv  women  of 
the  most  dissolute  character  had  made  their  way  into  the 
camp  as  early  as  any  one  except  the  original  prospectors. 
The  town  was  rogularlv  staked  off  into  blocks  and  lots,  on 
the  American  ]ilan,  avenues  running  one  way  and  streets 
intersecting  them  at  right  angles.  Town  lots  were  sold  at 
city  prices. 

While  the  enormous  wealth  of  the  camp  was  known  in 
part  from  the  result  of  the  panning,  it  was  not  until  the 
spring  opened  and  the  sluice  boxes  commenced  to  separate 
the  gold  from  the  sand  and  earth  with  which  it  was  mixed 
on  the  dump  piles,  that  it  became  clearly  recognizable. 
When  earth  was  handled  through  the  sluice  boxes  by  the 
ton,  instead  of  by  the  dozen  pounds  in  the  pan,  then  the 


fmm 

e 


22 


GUIDE   xO  THE  KI,ONDIKE 


i^iH 


gold  commenced  to  appear  in  quantities  which  fairly  daz- 
zled those  who  thought  they  had  realized  the  richness  of 
the  claims.  Where  it  had  been  seen  in  omces,  it  came  to 
sight  in  pounds,  even  in  hundredweights.  Where  small 
buckskin  sacks  had  sufficed  to  carry  the  wealth  of  the 
ordinary  claim  owner,  coal  oil  cans  came  in  use.  Around 
the  cabins  of  the  lucky  owners  of  claims,  gold  stacked  up  in 
quantities  of  which  they  had  never  dreamed  of  poscossing. 
Three  or  four  weeks  of  sluicing  gave  from  single  claims  as 
high  as  ten  thousand  ounces  of  gold,  while  few  claims  ran 
lower  than  twenty  thousand  dollars;  the  smallness  of  the 
amount  not  being  due  to  any  inferior  richness  in  the  claims 
themselves,  but  to  the  smaller  size  of  the  dump,  represent- 
ing the  gravel  which  had  been  taken  out  during  the  winter. 
W^ith  this  first  clean  up,  the  first  epoch  in  the  history  of  the 
Klondike  closed. 

From  the  report  of  William  Ogilvie,  who  has  been  in 
on  the  Yukon,  in  charge  of  the  boundary  surveys,  made  to 
the  Dominion  Government,  the  following  extracts  are  given 
as  being  official  in  character,  and,  moreover,  as  giving  the 
best  idea  obtainable  as  to  the  extent  and  character  of  the 
placer  discoveries  in  the  Klondike  districts  and  the  dis- 
tricts immediately  adjacent  thereto: 

The  extent  of  the  gold-bearing  section  here  is  such  as  to 
warrant  the  assertion  *hat  we  have  here  a  district  which  will 
give  one  thousand  claims  of  five  hundred  feet  in  length  each. 
New,  one  thousand  such  claims  will  require  at  least  three  thou- 
sand men  to  work  them  properly,  and  as  wages  for  working 
in  the  mines  are  from  eight  to  ten  dollars  per  day,  without 
board,  we  have  every  reason  to  assume  that  this  part  of  our 
territory  will  within  a  year  or  two  contain  ten  thousand  souls 
at  least,  for  the  news  has  gone  out  to  the  coast  and  an  unprece- 
dcntr"  influx  is  expected  next  spring. 

And  this  is  not  all,  for  a  large  creek  called  Indian  Creek 
joins  the  Yukon  about  midway  between  Klondike  and  Stewart 
River,  and  all  along  this  creek  good  pay  has  been  found.  All 
that  has  stood  in  the  way  of  working  it  heretofore  has  been 
the  scarcity  of  provisions  and  the  difficulty  of  getting  them  up 


:| 


HISTORY  OF  THE   KI,ONDIKE. 


23 


tliere  even  when  here.  Indian  Creek  is  quite  a  large  stream, 
and  it  probably  will  yield  five  or  six  hundred  claims.  Further 
south  yet  lies  the  head  of  the  several  branches  of  Stewart  River, 
on  which  some  prospecting  has  been  done  this  summer  and 
good  indications  found,  but  the  want  of  provisions  prevented 
development. 

Since  my  last  the  prospects  on  Bonanza  Creek  and  tribu- 
taries are  increasing  in  richness  and  extent,  until  now  it  is 
certain  that  millions  will  be  taken  out  of  the  district  in  the 
next  few  years.  On  some  of  the  claims  prospected  the  pay  dirt 
is  of  great  extent  and  very  rich.  One  man  told  me  yesterday 
that  he  washed  out  a  single  pan  of  dirt  on  one  of  the  claims  on 
Bonanza  Creek  and  found  fourteen  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents 
in  it.  Of  course,  that  may  be  an  exceptionally  rich  pan,  but 
five  to  seven  dollars  per  pan  is  the  average  on  that  claim,  it  is 
reported — with  five  feet  pay  dirt  and  the  width  yet  undeter- 
mined, but  it  is  known  to  be  thirty  feet.  Even  at  that  figure 
the  result,  at  nine  to  ten  pans  to  the  cubic  foot  and  five  hundred 
feet  long,  is  four  million  dollars  at  five  dollars  per  pan.  A 
fourth  of  this  would  be  enormous.  Enough  prospecting  has 
been  done  to  show  that  there  are  at  least  fifteen  miles  of  this 
extraordinary  richness,  and  the  indications  are  that  it  will  have 
three  or  four  times  that  extent;  if  not  all  equal  to  the  above, 
at  least  very  rich. 

There  are  several  cases  of  hardship  now  for  the  want  of  a 
proper  court.  Miners'  meetings  have  lost  their  power,  though 
one  was  held  in  Forty-Mile  a  day  ago  to  settle  the  disputed 
ownership  of  a  placer  claim,  a  thing  perfectly  within  the  power 
of  the  agent  here,  and  why  it  was  held  I  cannot  yet  say.  If 
some  sort  of  court  to  satisfy  the  necessities  of  the  people  in 
business  here  is  not  at  once  established  serious  inconvenience 
will  result.  The  officer  appointed  will  require  to  be  a  hale, 
vigorous  person,  for  it  is  probable  that  he  will  have  to  make 
journeys  of  considerable  length  across  unoccupied  country  in 
the  discharge  of  his  duty.  I  have  in  previous  reports  intimated 
that  some  sort  of  legal  machinery  is  absolutely  necessary  for 
the  trial  of  cases  of  contract,  collection  of  debts  and  generally 
the  judicial  interests  of  the  country. 

A  quartz  lode  showing  free  gold  in  paying  quantities  has 
been  located  on  one  of  the  creeks,  but  I  cannot  yet  send  par- 
ticulars. I  am  confident  from  the  nature  of  the  gold  found  in 
the  creeks  that  many  more  of  them,  and  rich,  too,  will  be  found. 
I  have  just  heard  from  a  reliable  source  that  the  quartz  men- 
tioned is  rich,  as  it  tested  over  one  hundred  dollars  to  the  ton. 
The  lode  appears  to  run  from  three  to  eight  feet  in  thickness 
and  is  about  nineteen  miles  from  the  Yukon  River.  I  will 
likely  be  called  on  *o  survey  it  and  will  be  able  to  report  fully. 

John  Dalton  informed  me  he  has  found  good  prospects  on 
a  small  creek  nearly  midway  between  the  Coast  Range  and 
Selkirk  on  his  route.     His  man  showed  me  some  coarse  gold. 


It 


24 


GUIDE  TO   THE   KL,ONDIKH. 


about  a  dollar's  worth,  he  found  on  the  head  of  a  branch  of  the 
Alsek  River,  near  the  head  of  Chllkat  Inlet,  which  is,  of  course, 
Inside  the  summit  of  the  Coast  Range  and,  of  course,  in  our 
territory.  From  this  you  will  gather  that  we  have  a  very  large 
area,  all  more  or  less  gold-bearing,  and  will  all  yet  be  worked. 

Good  quartz  has  been  found  in  places  just  across  the  line 
on  Davis  Creek  (see  my  map  of  the  one  hundred  and  forty-first 
sent  you),  but  of  what  extent  is  unknown,  as  it  is  in  the  bed  of 
the  creek  and  covered  with  gravel.  Good  quartz  is  also  reported 
on  the  hills  around  Bonanza  Creek,  but  of  this  I  will  be  able  to 
speak  more  fully  after  my  proposed  survey.  It  is  pretty  certain 
from  information  I  have  got  from  prospectors  that  all  or  nearly 
all  of  the  northerly  branch  of  White  River  is  on  our  side  of  the 
line,  and  copper  is  found  on  it,  but  more  abundantly  on  the 
southerly  branch,  of  v/hich  a  great  deal  of  it  is  in  our  territory 
also,  so  it  is  probable  we  have  that  metal  also. 

I  have  seen  here  several  lumps  of  native  copper  brought  by 
the  natives  from  White  River,  but  just  from  what  part  is  uncer- 
tain. I  have  also  seen  a  specimen  of  silver  ore  said  to  have 
been  picked  up  in  a  creek  flowing  into  Bennett  Lake,  about 
fourteen  miles  down  it  on  the  east  side. 

Placer  prospects  continue  more  and  more  encouraging  and 
extraordinary;  it  is  beyond  doubt  that  three  pans  of  different 
claims  on  El  Dorado  turned  out  two  hundred  and  four  dollars, 
two  hundred  and  twelve  dollars  and  two  hundred  and  sixteen 
dollars,  but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  there  were  only  three 
such  pans,  though  there  are  many  running  from  ten  to  fifty 
dollars.  I  think  this  is  enough  to  show  that  we  may  look 
forward  with  confidence  to  a  fairly  bright  future  for  this  part 
of  our  territory. 


WHAT  THE   KI^ONDIKE   HAS  PRODUCKD, 


25 


CHAPTER  III. 


WHAT  THE  KLONDIKE  HAS  PRODUCED. 

While  all  this  excitement  was  prevailing  on  the  Yukon, 
it  took  a  long  time  for  the  news  to  reach  the  outside  world. 
The  rivers  were  closed  by  ice,  and  the  dreary  semi-Arctic 
winter,  with  its  extreme  low  temperature,  had  set  in.  Prac- 
tically the  country  was  sealed  in  from  the  outside  world. 
But  there  are  men  in  on  the  Yukon  whom  no  hardships, 
no  severity  of  weather  can  deter.  In  the  middle  of  the 
winter,  a  party  of  five  left  Dawson  City  with  dog  sleds, 
bound  for  Dyea.  During  their  whole  trip  the  thermom- 
eter ranged  in  the  neighborhood  of  fifty  degrees  below 
zero,  but  they  made  the  trip  from  Dawson  to  Juneau  in 
forty  days.  The  object  of  their  trip  was  to  arrange  for 
heavier  shipments  of  provisions  into  the  country,  in  antici- 
pation of  the  rush  which  would  come  when  the  news  went 
out  to  the  world;  and  particularly  to  get  in  such  provisions 
for  themselves  and  their  partners  before  the  snow  went 
out  of  Chilcoot  Pass  and  while  sledding  was  practicable. 
They  were  followed  by  other  small  parties  at  intervals  from 
that  time  on  until  spring.  Each  one  of  these  parties 
brought  out  glowing  accounts  of  the  richness  of  these  great 
strikes.  From  Juneau  the  news  reached  Seattle  by 
steamer,  and  was  sent  out  over  the  coimtry  by  wire.  The 
story  of  the  rich  pans  of  dirt  washed  out  by  Clarence  Berry 
was  published  as  early  as  April  5,  and  like  stories  fol- 
lowed it. 

For  some  peculiar  reason,  these  stories  seemed  to  excite 
but  a  passing  interest,  except  among  those  who  took  an 
active  interest  in  mining.     The  spring  movement  to  the 


26 


GUIDB  TO  THE   KI^ONDIKE. 


Yukon  was  not  quite  as  large  as  it  was  the  previous  year, 
and  before  any  such  glowing  accounts  of  the  richness  of 
the  country  had  been  received.  It  was  not  until  the  arrival 
of  the  steamer  Excelsior  in  San  Francisco,  on  Wednesday, 
July  14,  that  a  true  realizing  sense  o^  what  the  discoveries 
really  amounted  to  was  experienced.  That  steamer 
brought  down  with  her  more  than  a  ton  of  gold,  the  prop- 
erty of  a  dozen  or  more  men,  and  the  result  of  a  few  weeks' 
sluicing  in  the  spring.  Each  of  these  men  had  behind 
him  a  claim  of  which  the  amount  with  him  represented  a 


^\$S>,.~j 


sr^.-= 


■%:.    •■""■•■•I ■  '■  -  v'     ^^^^^^•^:X^X  •  m  '^,      ^•''  '''J'''-    ^Xf'  li 


'^**'^\\*-^fc 


^^^^^.v:,^;^;^--^^<-^~- 


^:V^^i^(Uvi|h^' 


CROSSING  THE   LAKES  ON  THE   ICE. 


very  small  fraction  of  the  wealth.  The  arrival  of  the 
steamer  Portland  at  Seattle  on  the  morning  of  July  17 
fanned  the  excitement  into  a  flame.  On  the  Portland 
there  were  sixty-eight  passengers  who  had  with  them  con- 
siderably more  than  a  million  dollars'  worth  of  gold,  their 
share  of  the  few  weeks'  clean-up.  Much  of  the  money 
which  had  been  taken  out  by  them  had  been  reinvested  in 
other  claims,  and  with  the  exception  of  a  few  who  had  sold 
their  claims^  the  amount  in  the  possession  of  each  miner 


iS^SI 


lous  year, 
chness  of 
he  arrival 
ednesday, 
iscoveries 
steamer 
the  prop- 
ew  weeks' 
d  behind 
esented  a 


I  of  the 
July  17 
Portland 
em  con- 
Id,  their 
!  money 
ested  in 
bad  sold 
li  miner 


WHAT  THE  KI^ONDIKE  HAS  PRODUCED.  37 

Avas  a  relatively  small  portion  of  the  wealth  which  he 
actually  had.  The  amount  brought  out  on  these  two 
steamers  was  distributed  among  the  passengers  as  follows: 

Thomas  Cook  3  io,ooo 

M.  S.  Norcross 10  000 

J.  Ernmerger lo'ooo 

Con  Stamatin g  250 

Albert  Fox  5^100 

Greg  Stewart 5  OOO 

Thomas  Flack 5  Ooo 

Louis  B.  Rhoads 5  yoo 

T.  S.  Llppy 65000 

Henry  Dore , 50,000 

Victor  Lord 15  Oqo 

William  Stanley 112  000 

Clarence  Berry  ISsiooO 

Albert  Galbraith 15,000 

James  McMahon 15  000 

J.  O.  Hestwood 5  000 

F.  G.  H.  Bowker 9o|ooo 

Joe  Ladue 10  qoo 

J.  B.  Hollingshead 25  000 

Jack  Home g  000 

Douglas  McArthur 15,000 

Bernard  Anderson  14  000 

Robert  Krook  14  000 

Fred  Lendesser 13  oqo 

J-  J-  Kelly ■ '  '_■  lo'ooo 

Others  who  came  down  scattered  to  various  parts  of  the 
country  before  any  figures  could  be  obtained  from  them. 
Every  man  who  came  off  the  Portland  had  with  him  gold. 
Some  carried  it  in  grip  sacks,  under  the  weight  of  which 
they  staggered,  some  had  it  rolled  in  tbcir  blankets.  Hardly 
one  had  less  than  a  full  load,  while  in  five  or  six  instances  it 
required  the  assistance  of  two  or  three  men  to  take  the  gold 
ashore  over  the  gang  plank.     In  two  rough  sacks  Clarence 


2S 


GUIDE  TO  THE   KLONDIKE. 


Borry  carried  $85,000  in  gold,  this  being  the  amount  for 
which  the  nuggets  and  dust  were  actually  sold. 

The  sight  of  the  gold  itself  and  the  stories  told  by  the 
returning  miners  were  sufficient  in  themselves  to  create  a 
mining  furore  in  Seattle;  but  in  addition  to  this  the  Port- 
land brought  down  hundreds  of  letters.  Many  of  these 
were  from  well  known  and  thoroughly  reliable  citizens  of 
Seattle,  men  whose  acquaintanceship  extended  over  the 
whole  town.  These  letters  to  wives,  to  mothers  and  fathers, 
and  to  intimate  friends,  all  without  exception  told  the  same 
story,  of  the  finding  of  gold  in  almost  incredible  quantities, 
of  thousands  of  dollars  being  washed  out  in  one  day.  A 
few  of  the  more  significant  letters  are  given  herewith. 

Captain  Francis  Tuttle,  commander  of  the  revenue  cut- 
ter Bear,  under  date  of  July  1,  wrote  io  a  friend  in  Seattle 
a  letter  of  which  the  following  are  extracts: 

The  days  of  '49  in  California  are  mere  sideshows  in  com- 
parison with  the  excitement  in  the  Yulcon  country.  As  I  write 
St.  Michaels  is  full  of  miners  waiting  the  first  opportunity  to 
get  down  to  Puget  Sound  and  to  California.  Nearly  every  man 
of  them  has  fifty  thousand  dollars  worth  of  dust,  and  there  is 
not  a  man  here  with  less  than  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  The 
latter  are  referred  to  as  "poor  fellows." 

Captain  Tuttle  says  he  cannot  alford  to  lay  long  in  St. 
Michaels  or  his  whole  crew  will  become  daft,  and  he  con- 
tinues: 

I  feel  almost  as  if  I  would  like  to  go  up  the  river  myself, 
and  I  would  certainly  do  so  were  I  twenty  years  younger. 

B.  R.  Shaw,  a  young  man  well  known  in  Seattle,  in  a 
letter  to  0.  A.  Schade,  also  of  Seattle,  from  Dawson  City, 
under  date  June  15,  gives  some  particulars  as  follows: 

There  is  no  night  here  now.  It  is  light  as  midday  for  the 
twenty-four  hours,  and  neither  too  warm  nor  too  cold;  not  too 
many  flies  to  bother  as  yet.  This  is  a  great  mining  strike, 
probably  the  greatest  on  the  American  Continent,  or  in  the 


WHAT  THE   KLONDIKE    HAS   PRODUCED. 


29 


lount  for 

Id  by  the 
I  create  a 
the  Port- 
of  these 
itizens  of 
over  the 
i  fathers, 
the  same 
uantities, 
day.  A 
ith. 

eniie  cut- 
n  Seattle 


3  in  com- 
L^  I  write 
[•tunity  to 
very  man 
i  there  is 
irs.     The 


Qg  in  St. 
i  he  con- 


ir  myself, 
ger. 

fctle,  in  a 
5on  City, 
3ws: 

ly  for  the 
;  not  too 
ig  strike, 
)r  in  the 


i 


world.  I  know  you  will  not  believe  me  if  I  tell  you  all  about  it. 
It  is  not  so  extensive  as  I  wish  it  was,  or  at  least  gold  has  not 
been  found  in  great  paying  quantities  except  on  two  creeks, 
about  two  hundred  claims,  but  some  of  them  are  very  rich; 
in  fact,  some  of  the  pay  streaks  are  nearly  all  gold.  One  thou- 
sand dollars  to  the  pan  is  not  an  uncommon  thing,  and  as  high 
as  one  hundred  ounces  have  been  taken  out  at  a  single  pan. 
It  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  see  men  coming  in  with  all  the 
gold  dust  they  can  carry. 

You  would  not  believe  me  when  I  tell  you  that  I  went  into 
one  cabin  and  counted  five  flve-gallon  oil  cans  full  of  gold 
dust,  but  it  is  a  fact.  It  is  the  result  of  the  work  of  two  men 
during  the  winter,  and  the  dump  is  not  much  more  than  half 
worked  out. 

There  has  been  about  two  million  dollars  in  dust  taken  out 
so  far  in  the  district.  At  a  low  estimate  there  will  be  fifty 
million  dollars  taken  out  during  the  next  year. 

Of  course  I  am  in  too  late  to  get  in  on  any  of  the  rich 
ground,  but  hope  to  get  hold  of  some  that  I  can  make  wages  at, 
or  better.  1  am  working  for  the  Alaska  Commertial  Company, 
helping  to  put  up  a  big  store  building.  Went  to  work  as  soon 
as  1  got  settled  at  ten  dollars  a  day  for  ten  hours.  Carpenters 
get  fifteen  dollars  a  day,  and  so  do  all  of  the  men  who  work  in 
the  mines.      I  think  I  sliall  work  for  a  wliile. 

John  F.  Miller,  formerly  prosocuting  attorney  of  King 
Coiuity,  in  which  Seattle  is  situated,  and  a  nepliew  of  the 
late  Senator  John  F.  Miller,  of  California,  in  a  letter  to 
his  wife,  dated  Dawson  City,  June  14,  says: 

I  have  now  written  quite  at  length  regarding  the  trip  and 
its  features,  and,  by  the  way,  I  may  say  that  no  one  has  any 
right  or  ought  to  undertake  it  unless  he  is  ready  and  willing 
to  put  up  with  anything  or  everything,  at  all  times,  and  undergo 
any  and  all  kinds  of  hardship,  privation  and  exposure.  Now, 
as  to  the  country.  Well,  as  far  as  the  wealth  is  concerned,  the 
half  has  not  been  told.  But,  like  everything  else,  the  few  have 
it  and  the  many  are  looking,  looking  and  hunting — the  same  old 
story.  Many  claims  have  yielded  sixty  thousand,  eighty  thou- 
sand and  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  from  last  winter's  work. 
One  man  has  three  flve-gallon  oil  cans  filled,  and  is  not  fully 
washed  out  yet.  But,  remember,  he  is  one  out  of  perhaps  five 
thousand.  The  many  have  nothing,  though  great  wealth  doubt- 
less exists.  A  town  has  sprung  up  here  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Klondike  that  has  killed  Circle  City,  Forty-Mile,  Fort  Cudahy 
and  all  of  the  other  towns  dead. 

Captain  Higgins,  of  the  Excelsior,  tells  of  some  of  the 


30 


GUIDB  TO  THE   KLONDIKE. 


stories  he  hoard  from  tlie  returning  miners,  during  the 

fifteen  days  of  ])assage  down,  as  follows: 

On  the  29th  came  our  steamer,  the  Alice,  with  thirty  minera 
and  more  gold,  and  we  discharged  freight  immediately  and  got 
away  on  the  morning  of  July  1st.  The  weather  had  been  very 
warm.  Think  of  seventy-five  and  eighty  degrees  in  the  shade, 
close  under  the  Arctic  Circle.  The  first  installment  of  return 
we  received  was  fifteen  strong  boxes  of  gold— over  a  ton  in 
weight.  This  was  the  company's  share.  Every  miner  brought 
his  own. 

After  the  company's  lot  had  been  stowed  away  the  passen- 
gers came,  and  they  staggered  up  the  gangplank  loaded  down. 
Some  had  their  whack  rolled  up  in  a  blanket  and  carried  it  in 
front,  bent  nearly  double  with  their  load.  Some  had  it  in  a 
strong  valise.  Several  had  two  valises  suspended  one  on  each 
side  with  a  strap  over  their  shoulders.  Some  had  to  make  two 
trips  and  two  of  the  party  made  three  trips  between  the  steamer 
to  transfer  their  treasure. 

A  few  of  these  men  had  been  in  Alaska  five  years  and  more, 
some  three  years.  Several,  and  among  these  the  most  fortunate, 
crossed  the  range  last  winter  into  the  Klondike  mines,  which  is 
undoubtedly  the  richest  placer  ever  known.  The  word  Klon- 
dike means  Deer  River,  and  is  called  Reindeer  River  on  the 
charts.  It  empties  into  the  Yukon  fifty  miles  above  the  Big 
River.  The  geographical  position  of  the  junction  is  seventy-six 
degrees  ten  minutes  north  latitude,  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  degrees  fifty  minutes  west  longitude.  Bonanza  Creek 
dumps  into  Klondike  two  miles  above  the  Yukon.  El  Dorado 
is  a  tributary  of  the  Bonanza.  There  are  numerous  other  creeka 
and  tributaries,  the  main  river  being  three  hundred  miles  long. 
The  gold  so  far  has  been  taken  from  Bonanza  and  El  Dorado, 
both  well  named,  for  the  richness  of  these  placers  is  truly 
marvelous.  El  Dorado,  thirty  miles  long,  is  staked  the  whole 
length,  and  as  far  as  worked  has  paid. 

As  each  claim  is  live  hundred  feet  along  the  creek  bed  there 
is  half  a  million  to  the  claim.  So  uniform  has  the  output  been 
that  one  miner  who  has  an  interest  in  three  claims  told  me  that 
if  offered  his  choice  he  would  toss  up  to  decide.  One  of  our 
passengers  who  is  taking  out  one  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars with  him  has  worked  one  hundred  feet  of  his  ground 
and  refused  two  hundred  thousand  for  the  remainder, 
and  confidently  expects  to  clean  up  four  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  and  more.  He  has  in  a  bottle  two  hun- 
dred and  twelve  dollars  from  one  pan  of  dirt.  His  pay 
dirt  while  being  washed  averaged  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
an  hour  to  each  man  shoveling  in.  Two  others  of  our  miners 
who  worked  their  own  claims  cleaned  up  six  thousand  dollars 
from  one  day's  washing.  There  is  about  fifteen  feet  of  dirt 
above  bedrock,  the  pay  streak  averaging  from  four  to  six  feet. 


WHAT  THK    KU)M)IKK   HAS    I'RODUCKD. 


31 


ing  the 


r  miners 
and  got 
aen  very 
e  shade, 
i£  return 
\  ton  in 
brought 

!  passen- 
3d  down, 
•led  it  in 
i  it  in  a 
on  each 
lake  two 
!  steamer 

,nd  more, 
ortunate, 
which  is 
rd  Klon- 
jr  on  the 
)  the  Big 
venty-six 
d  thirty- 
;a  Creek 
1  Dorado 
ler  creeka 
liles  long. 
Dorado, 
is  truly 
le  whole 

)ed  there 
[put  been 
me  that 
ie  of  our 
ind  dol- 
ground 
lainder. 
Id  thou- 
ro  hun- 
[is  pay 
dollars 
miners 
dollars 
of  dirt 
Isix  feet. 


which  is  tunneled  out  while  the  ground  is  frozen.  Of  course 
the  ground  taken  out  is  thawed  by  building  fires,  and  when  the 
thaw  comes  and  water  runs  they  set  their  sluices  and  wash  the 
dirt.  Two  of  our  fellows  thought  a  small  bird  in  the  hand 
worth  a  large  one  in  the  bush  and  sold  their  claims  for  forty- 
five  thousand  dollars,  getting  forty-five  hundred  dollars  down, 
the  remainder  to  be  paid  in  monthly  installments  of  ten  thou- 
sand dollars  each.  The  purchasers  had  no  more  than  five 
thousand  dollars  paid.  They  were  twenty  days  thawing  and 
getting  out  dirt.  Then  there  was  no  water  to  sluice  with,  but 
one  fellow  made  a  rocker  and  in  ten  days  took  out  ten  thousand 
dollars  for  the  first  installm*  nt.  So,  tunneling  and  rocking, 
they  took  out  forty  thousand  dollars  before  there  was  water 
to  sluice  with. 

Of  course  these  things  read  like  the  story  of  Aladdin,  but 
fiction  is  not  in  it  at  all  with  facts  at  Klondike. 

Tlioso  nre  l)ut  snrnples  out  of  tliousaiid*,  couched  pre- 
cisely in  the  same  vein,  and  repeating  over  and  over  again 
the  same  story. 

AVhat  the  district  has  produced  this  season  cannot  be 
iicciuatcly  known  until  the  linal  shipments  are  made.  Ac- 
cording to  the  estimates  of  the  best  informed  men,  fully 
live  million  dollars  has  been  taken  out  since  April  20. 
AVitliout  exception,  all  the  returning  miners  agree  that 
there  will  be  fidly  ten  times  as  much  taken  out  during  the 

coming  season.  The  ground  in  the  pay  streak  has  proven 
of  uniform  richness  all  along  the  creeks.  One  claim  is 
substantially  as  good  as  another.  On  the  claims  which 
have  })een  opened  about  live  hundred  men  were  employed 
during  the  last  season,  or  during  some  part  of  it.  It  is 
agreed  that  on  these  claims  alone  five  thousand  men  can 
be  profitably  worked,  if  they  can  be  obtained.  In  the 
whole  district,  including  all  the  tributaries  of  the  Klon- 
dike, there  is  prospective  work  for  ten  thousand.  It  will 
be  seen  that  our  estimated  product  for  next  season  of  the 
Klondike  mines  of  fifty  million  dollars  is  within  the  bounds 
of  reasonable  expectations,  and  it  is  not  at  all  improbable 
that  the  amount  may  reach  double  these  figures.  The 
estimate  of  work  for  ten  thousand  men  in  the  district  is 
made  by  William  Ogilvie,  chief  of  the  Intemiitional  Bound- 
ary Survev,  whose  experience  on  the  Yukon  dates  back  to 
1887. 

3-S 


3« 


CUIDR  TO  TIIK   KI,ONniKR. 


? 


CHAPTER   TV. 


THE  ROUTES  OF  TRAVEL. 

Speaking  in  general  terms,  there  are  two  routes  of  travel 
to  the  mines.  One  is  by  steamship  to  the  Island  of  St. 
Michael's,  situated  near  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon,  in  Bering 
Sea;  thence  by  river  steamer  up  to  the  various  mining 
camps.  The  other  is  by  steamer  to  some  point  on  the  coast 
of  Southeastern  Alaska;  thence  across  the  naiTOw  dividing 
mountain  range  to  the  headwaters  of  rivers  which  flow  into 
the  Yukon,  and  thence  on  down  the  rivers  in  small  boats. 
This  latter  is  called  the  overland  route,  but  the  overland 
portion  of  the  trip  is  only  from  twenty-four  to  sixty  miles, 
according  to  the  route  taken.  As  the  great  body  of  the 
travel  into  the  Yukon  has  been  by  way  of  these  so-called 
overland  routes,  they  will  be  the  first  ones  taken  up  and 
discussed.  With  existing  routes  of  travel,  the  starting 
point  for  the  Yukon  is  the  city  of  Seattle.  By  steamer  to 
Dyea  or  Skaguay,  the  distance  from  Seattle  is  eight  hundred 
and  eighty-four  miles.  It  is  an  inland  passage  all  the  way, 
and,  except  across  the  mouths  of  a  few  wide  bays,  the  ordin- 
ary steamship  route  of  travel  is  as  well  sheltered  as  any 
portion  of  Puget  Sound.  With  the  exception  of  these  few 
places,  no  more  rough  water  can  be  seen  tluiii  on  any  ordin- 
ary land-locked  bay  on  tide  water.  No  more  picturesque 
voyage  is  possible  to  be  selected  on  any  waters  in  the 
world.  The  fame  of  the  inside  passage  to  Alaska  has 
spread  until  during  the  summer  season  large  excursion 
boats  have  to  be  put  on  to  accommodate  the  heavy  tourist 
travel  from  Seattle  north  by  this  route.     Until  the  com- 


THK   ROUTKS  Oi    TRAVEI^. 


33 


of  travel 

d  of  St. 

a  Bering 

mining 

the  coast 

dividing 

flow  into 

ill  boats. 

overland 

ty  miles, 

y  of  the 

so-called 

np  and 

starting 

amer  to 

iimdred 

the  way, 

le  ordin- 

as  any 

lese  few 

y  ordin- 

uresque 

in  the 

ska  has 

tcursion 

r  tourist 

he  com- 


mencement of  the  ])roscnt  rush  there  was  but  one  steamer  a 
week  to  Alaska.  The  number  has  now  increased  until  it 
can  be  safely  asserted  that  from  this  time  forward,  so  long 
as  the  demands  of  travel  require  it,  thoi'e  will  be  one  large 
steamer  leave  Seattle  for  Dyea  and  Skaguay  every  day  in 
the  week,  and  more  will  be  put  on  if  necessary.    The  steam- 


'""It-JlMt^ 


FIRST   CAMP   ON    CHII.KOOT   TRAII-. 


ers  at  present  on  the  route  are  those  of  the  Pacific  Coast 
Steamship  Compaii}',  the  Queen,  a  palatial  excursion  boat 
of  sixteen  hundred  and  ninety-seven  tons  register;  t!ie 
Willamette,  of  upwards  of  three  thousand  tons  burthen;  the 
Mexico,  a  large  ocean-going  steamship;  the  City  of  Topeka, 
of  the  same  class,  and  the  Alki,  a  smaller  ocean  steamship. 


34 


GUIDE  TO  THE  KI.ONDIKE. 


The  company  has  a  large  llect  of  other  vessels  to  draw  upon 
in  case  of  an  enieraencv.  In  addition  to  this,  a  large 
numher  of  smaller  steamers,  admirably  fitted  for  the  work, 
are  on  the  route,  such  as  the  Rosalie,  with  accommodations 
for  one  hundred  and  fifty  passengers;  the  Geo.  E.  Starr, 
with  substantially  tlie  same  accommodations.  Two  freight 
boats,  tlie  Edith  and  the  Rapid  Transit,  are  also  on  the 
route.  Other  vessels  are  fitting  up  to  meet  the  demand,  if 
it  increases.  The  passenger  accommodations  of  these 
various  boats  ranges  from  twelve  hundred  down  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty.  The  voyage  only  lasts  four  days,  and 
would  be  a  mere  pleasure  excursion  were  it  not  for  the  fact 
that  there  v^-ill  some  slight  discomfort  follow  from  the 
crowded  conditions  of  the  ^leame'S.  The  travel  will  never 
congest  at  Seattle.  So  long  as  it  is  possible  to  cross  the 
mountains  and  reach  the  headwaters  of  the  Yukon,  the 
enterprise  of  Seattle  can  be  lelied  upon  to  furnish  transpor- 
tation to  the  points  wliere  the  land  journey  commences. 


THE  CHILKOOT  PASS  ROUTE. 

This  is  the  one  through  whieli  nearly  all  the  miners 
who  have  yet  reached  the  various  placers  on  tlie  Yukon, 
including  the  Klondike,  made  their  original  trip  into  the 
country.  Jt  is  the  shortest  pass  from  tide  water  to  fresh 
water  on  the  lakes  which  are  the  sources  of  the  Yukon. 
The  actual  distance  from  the  beach  at  Dyea  Inlet  to  Lake 
Lindeman,  as  instrumentally  measured  by  Mr.  Ogilvie,  the 
Dominion  surveyor,  who  has  been  in  charge  of  the  inter- 
national boundary  work  on  the  Yukon  for  some  years  past, 
is  twentv-threc  miles  and  a  half.  It  is  generally  called 
twenty-four  miles,  the  distance  being  divided  as  follows: 
Dyea  to  foot  of  canyon,  seven  miles;    canyon  to   Sheep 


mm 


THE  ROUTES  OF  TRAVEI.. 


35 


nv  upon 

a  large 

le  work, 

xlations 

I.  Starr, 

freight 

on  the 

nand,  if 

f   tliese 

to  one 

lys,  and 

the  fact 

om  the 

11  never 

'OSS  the 

on,  the 

anspor- 

inces. 


miners 
Yukon, 
nto  the 
o  fresli 
Yukon. 
;o  Lake 
vie,  the 
3  inter- 
rs  past, 

called 
'ollows: 

Sheep 


Camp,  five  miles;  Sheep  Camp  to  summit,  five  miles;  sum- 
mit to  Lake  Lindeman,  nine  miles.  From  Dyea,  the  first 
seven  miles  of  the  distance  is  up  a  M'ide,  fiat-bottom  valley, 
floored  with  gravel  flats.  It  runs  north  and  south  between 
high  mountain  walls.  The  travel  up  this  valL-v  is  as  easy 
as  over  any  ordinary  country  road,  the  only  trouble  being 
that  the  trail  crosses  the  creek  several  times  before  the 
head  of  the  canyon  is  reached.  This  valley  is  V-shaped, 
the  point  of  the  V  being  the  entrance  to  the  canyon.  Six 
miles  up  from  the  head  of  the  inlet,  the  stream  is  joined 
by  another,  which  has  been  dignified  by  the  name  of  the 
Nou]-se  lliver.  From  that  point  on  the  valley  closes  in 
abruptly,  until  at  the  distance  of  seven  miles  from  Dyea 
the  canyon  is  reached.  Here  the  ascent  commences  to  be- 
come more  abrupt.  The  trail  goes  througii  the  woods 
along  a  steep,  rocky  and  in  summer  time  boggy  hillside, 
leading  up  and  down  the  sides  of  several  deep,  narrow 
gullies.  Two  small  detached  glaciers  occupy  hollows  in 
the  slope  of  the  mountains  on  the  west  side  of  this  valley 
and  from  these  a  considerable  portion  of  the  water  of  the 
stream  is  derived.  Five  miles  of  travel  througii  this  can- 
yon trail  leads  to  Sheep  Camp,  the  last  point  where  tliere 
is  any  timber  on  the  trail  until  the  lake  on  the  opposite 
side.  From  Sheep  Camp  to  the  summit  is  a  distance  of 
three  miles,  and  this  is  the  hardest  part  of  the  whole  trail. 
It  leads  through  a  narrow  rocky  gap,  and  the  whole  scene 
is  one  of  the  most  complete  desolation,  the  granite  rocks 
rising  steeply  to  partly  snowclad  mountains  on  either  side. 
The  trail  leads  over  huge  masses  of  fallen  rock,  which  alter- 
nate here  and  there  with  steep,  slippery  surfaces  of  rock  in 
jilacc.  In  one  portion  of  the  trail,  near  the  summit,  for  a 
distance  of  nearly  nine  hundred  feet,  the  angle  is  nearly 
forty-five  degrees.  Then  follows  a  short  l)ench,  and  a 
further  slope  of  seven  hundred  feet  at  an  angle  of  approxi- 


36 


GUIDE  To   THE   KLONDIKE. 


mately  thirty  degrees.  At  this  a  windlass  or  winze  hus 
been  established,  which  is  used  in  hoisting  the  loaded  sleds 
up  the  slope  when  there  is  snow  on  the  ground.  A  number 
of  miners  at  this  point  frequently  join  forces  and  by  splic- 
ing together  the  rope  carried  by  each  party  and  leading  it 
through  a  block  made  fast  at  the  summit,  haul  their  loads 
up  the  slope.  Wlien  packing  is  resorted  to,  this  portion  of 
the  trail  usually  has  to  be  "doubled,"  that  is,  but  half  the 
usual  load  is  carried  up  it,  and  a  return  is  made  for  the 
other  portion.  Seven  to  eight  miles  of  the  highest  part  of 
the  pass  is  entirely  destitute  of  timber,  even  of  a  stunted 
growth,  such  as  might  be  used  for  firewood.  The  "stone 
house"  often  referred  to  in  letters  and  by  newspaper  corre- 
spondents consists  of  several  natural,  though  inconvenient 
shelters,  beneath  great  masses  of  rock  which  have  rolled 
down  from  the  mountain.  The  actual  elevation  of  the 
pass  at  the  summit,  taking  the  mean  of  a  large  number  of 
barometrical  observations,  is  three  thousand  five  hundred 
and  two  feet.  After  the  summit  is  passed,  the  slope  of  the 
pass  is  rather  gradual,  and  the  total  descent  to  the  lake 
not  very  great,  being  but  thirteen  hundred  and  thirty-four 
feet  in  a  distance  of  nine  miles.  The  trail  is  rough  and 
crooked,  crosses  wide  areas  of  shattered  rock,  making  the 
travel,  especially  with  a  pack,  extremely  hard.  Some  of 
the  valleys  to  the  north  of  the  summit  and  near  it  are 
deenlv  filled  with  perennial  snow,  over  which  the  trail  runs 
Iv  r»  •' 'erence,  to  avoid  the  rocky  slopes.  Continuing 
li'-yw''-'  the  trail  follows  a  little  glacial  stream  through  a 
narrow  rocky  defile. 

It  can  be  seen  from  this  description  that  the  Chilkoot 
Pass,  at  least  so  far  as  the  last  few  miles  toward  the  summit 
are  concerned,  is  impracticable  as  a  pack  trail  for  animals. 
The  manner  in  which  supplies  have  been  carried  over  this 
pass,  during  the  summer  season,  has  been  entirely  by  men 


THE   ROUTEvS  OF  TRAVEL. 


37 


inze  bus 
led  sleds 

number 
by  splic- 
iading  it 
eir  loads 
Drtion  of 
half  the 
I  for  the 
t  part  of 

stunted 
e  "stone 
er  corre- 
iivenient 
re  rolled 
1  of  the 
imber  of 
hundred 
DC  of  the 
the  lake 
irty-four 
ugh  and 
king  the 
Some  of 
ir  it  are 
rail  runs 
ntinuing 
rough  a 

Dhilkoot 
summit 

animals. 

)ver  this 
bv  men 


1 


packers.  The  Chilkat  Indians  have  been  acting  as  packers 
ever  since  the  first  gold-seekers  went  in  on  the  Yukon. 
They  have  charged  for  this  work  from  ten  to  twenty  cents  a 
pound,  the  average  price  for  several  years  having  been 
fifteen  cents  per  pound.  A  strong  man  can  carry  a  pack  of 
one  hundred  pounds  over  this  trail,  and  this  is  about  what 
the  average  Indian  packer  takes.  It  takes  threr,  days  for 
the  round  trip  to  be  made  from  Dyea  to  Lake  Lindeman, 
two  days  going  over  with  the  pack  and  one  returning,  and 


''"wsw^:^^,'^. 


V.:;.   I';        ■( 

:r'-^j\, 


m ,. 


%,■'■  . 


nKVIL'S   BLT'Kr  PORTAl.r.,    CIIII.KOOT   TRAIL. 

it  >^  ■  •.:  .tfully  liard  work.  With  an  estimated  outfit  of 
fifteen  n^""lred  pounds,  it  would  take  one  man,  working 
alone,  fa  ty-five  days  to  get  his  outfit  over  the  pass,  if  he 
coulr!  indeed  stand  up  under  such  work  for  that  length  of 
i  ime.  Owing  to  the  riisli  now  going  on  it  will  be  difficult 
to  get  Indian  packers  suflicient  to  care  for  more  than  part 
()f  the  freight  offering. 

In  the  spring  the  conditions  arc  (lifTerml,  and  it  is  at 


m 


38 


GUIDE  To  thp:  klondikk. 


r. 


that  season  that  the  experienced  Yukon  miner  endeavors 
to  get  in  his  supplies.     With  the  lieavy  fall  of  snow  usually 
on  the  Avestern  slope,  all  the  boulders,  broken  rock  and 
rough  places  in  the  trail  arc  covered  up.      On  the  crusted 
snow  five  to  eight  hundred  pounds  can  be  moved  more 
readily  than  one  hundred  pounds  can  be  packed.     At  the 
very  steej)  places,  ropes  are  used  to  haul  the  loaded  sleds 
up  the  icy  slopes,  and  ropes  are  again  used  to  lower  them 
down  the  steep  slopes  on  the  other  side  of  the  pass.    Storms 
in  the  pass  are  frequent  and  severe  and  occasionally  inter- 
rupt this  work  for  weeks.      The  experienced  Yukoner,  by 
taking  advantage  of  the  intervals  of  good  weather,  gener- 
ally succeeds  in  getting  bis  sup]ilies  over  the  pass  and  down 
part  of  the  upper  chain  Ox"         s  before  the  ice  commences 
to  go  out  of  the  river.     lie  i:  is  his  boat  built  in  readiness 
to  embark,  and  as  soon  as  the  ice  commences  to  move  out, 
follows  it  down  the  river,  arriving  at  the  mines  about  the 
first   of    June.       This   is   the   practice   recommended   to 
all  who  intend  to  go  into  the  Klondike  or  other  min- 
ing regions  in   the  Yukon   via  the  overland  route.      It 
necessitates  exposure    to    storms    and    to    severe  winter 
weather,  but  these  experiences  will  have  to  be  met  with  in 
any  event,  and  might  as  well  be  encountered  at  the  start 
as  at  any  other  ]»ortion  of  the  route.      If  they  pi'ove  too 
severe,  it  is  not  too  late  to  withdraw  from  the  adventure,  as 
it  would  be,  if  fairly  started  down  the  Yukon  in  a  boat. 

A  description  of  the  method  of  getting  supplies  oyer 
the  trail  in  the  early  spring,  while  the  road  is  in  a  condition 
to  travel,  is  given  by  a  writer  in  the  Alaska  Searchlight. 
According  to  returned  Yukoners,  this  description  is  the 
most  complete,  exhaustive  and  gra])hie  of  any  which  has 
been  attempted,  so  it  is  reproduced  here: 

"Going  up  the  Dyea  river  five  miles  on  the  ice,  will 
bring  one  to  the  mouth  of  the  canyon.     Here  in  the  woods 


THK   ROUTEvS   OF  TRAVEL 


39 


mdeavors 
V  usually 
t'ock  and 
3  crusted 
ed  more 

At  the 
led  sleds 
i'er  them 

Storms 
]y  inter- 
oner,  bv 
V,  geiier- 
nd  down 
iimences 
•eadiness 
love  out, 
bout  the 
nded  to 
ler  min- 
ite.  It 
3  winter 
with  in 
:he  start 
I'ove  too 
iiture,  as 
boat. 
lies  over 
ondition 
•chlio-ht. 
1  is  the 
lieli  has 

ice,  will 
e  woods 


a  comfortable  camp  can  be  easily  arranged.  The  tent  is 
pitched  on  top  of  the  snow,  the  poles  and  pins  being  pushed 
down  into  it.  While  some  are  busily  engaged  in  building 
a  fire  and  making  n  bed,  the  best  cook  of  the  party  prepares 
tlie  supper.  If  you  have  no  stove  a  camp  fire  must  be  built, 
either  on  an  exposed  point  of  rock  or  in  a  hole  dug  down  in 
tlie  snow;  if  you  have  a  stove  it  can  be  quickly  arranged 
on  a  "gridiron"  inside  the  tent,  the  gridiron  consisting  of 
three  poles  some  six  or  eight  feet  long,  and  laid  in  the  snow 
on  M'hich  the  stove  is  placed.  The  heat  from  the  stove  will 
soon  melt  a  liole  underneath,  but  there  will  be  enough  firm 
snow  under  the  ends  of  the  poles  to  hold  it  up.  For  the 
bed  hemlock  brush  is  cut  an  1  laid  on  the  snow  to  a  depth 
of  a  foot  or  more,  and  this  is  covered  with  a  large  square 
of  canvas  on  which  the  blankets  and  robes  are  put;  when 
finished  it  forms  a  natural  spring  bed,  which  will  oft'er 
grateful  rest  after  hauling  a  sled  all  day. 

"Dyea  C.'anyon  is  about  two  miles  long  and  perhaps  fifty 
feet  wide.  A  boat  cannot  go  through  it,  but  in  the  early 
spring  miners  go  through  on  the  ice,  bridgincj  with  poles 
the  dangerous  places  or  openings.  x\fter  the  ice  breaks 
up  it  is  necessary  to  go  over  the  trail  on  the  east  side  of  the 
canyon.  This  trail  was  built  by  Captain  Ilealy  at  his  own 
expense,  but  is  little  used,  as  most  miners  go  through  the 
canyon  before  the  ice  breaks  up.  The  camping  place  be- 
yond the  cauyon  is  a  strip  of  woods  some  three  miles  long, 
known  as  Pleasant  Camp.  Its  name  is  something  of  a 
misnomer,  for  there  is  not  even  a  log  shanty  there;  some 
woods  to  give  a  kind  of  shelter,  and  as  everywhere  else 
along  the  route,  plenty  of  snow. 

"From  here  the  ascent  is  gradual,  and  the  next  and  last 
cam])  in  timber  before  crossing  the  summit  is  known  as 
Sheep  Camp.  This  is  at  the  edge  of  timber,  and  no  wood 
for  fire  can  be  gotten  any  higher  up.      This  camp  is  not 


40 


ouir;/:  To  thk  Klondike. 


usually  broken  until  all  of  the  outfit  has  been  placed  on  the 
summit.  When  the  weather  is  favorable,  everything  except 
what  is  necessary  for  camp  is  pushed  a  mile  and  a  half  to 
Stone  House,  a  clump  of  big  rocks,  and  then  to  what  is 
called  the  second  bench.  Care  must  be  exercised  in  case  of 
soft  weather,  or  everything  is  liable  to  be  swept  from  the 
bench  by  a  snowslide  or  avalanche,  and  should  this  happen 
the  Indians  Mill  prove  of  groat  assistance  in  recovering  part 
of  the  things.  AVith  long,  slender  rods  tipped  with  steel 
they  feol  down  in  the  snow  and  locate  most  of  the  larger 
packages,  which,  without  theui  and  their  feel  rods,  one 
would  never  find.  At  Sheep  Camp  the  summit  towers 
above  you  thirty-five  hundred  feet,  but  the  pass  is  some 
five  hundred  feet  lower.  Xo  further  progress  can  be  made 
until  a  clear  day,  and  sometimes  the  weather  continues  bad 
for  two  or  three  weeks,  the  mountain  top  hidden  in  thick 
clouds,  and  icy  winds  hurling  the  new  fallen  snow  in  every 
direction,  or  driving  the  sleet  in  the  face  of  any  one  bold 
enough  to  stir  out  of  camp,  and  peep  up  at  the  precipitous 
wall  of  snow  and  ice.  But  sunshine  comes  at  last,  and  the 
winds  grow  still.  Xow  comes  the  tug  of  war — to  get  the 
outfit  to  the  summit;  for  six  hundred  feet  every  step  must 
be  cut  in  the  ice,  and  so  steep  is  it  that  a  person  with  a 
pack  on  his  back  must  constantly  bend  forward  to  maintain 
his  equilibrium.  The  first  load  landed  on  the  summit  of 
the  pass,  a  shovel  is  stuck  in  the  snow  to  mark  the  spot, 
then  back  for  another  pack,  and  fortunate  is  he  who  gets 
his  whole  outfit  up  in  a  single  day-  Indians  may  be  hired 
to  do  the  packing,  and  their  rates  vary  slightly,  but  the 
regular  price  has  been  five  dollars  a  hundred-weight  from 
the  second  bench  to  the  summit,  or  fifteen  cents  a  pound 
from  Healy  &  "Wilson's  to  the  lakes.  These  prices  have 
been  shaded  a  little  the  past  season,  and  some  outfits  were 
packed  over  to  the  lakes  at  thirteen  cents  a  pound.     The 


THE  ROUTES  OE  TRAVEL. 


41 


3d  on  the 
ig  except 
a  half  to 

what  is 
n  case  of 
from  the 
3  happen 
ring  part 
ith  steel 
le  larger 
ods,  one 
t  towers 

is  some 
be  made 
nues  bad 
in  thick 
in  every 
one  bold 
Bcipitous 
and  the 
I  get  the 
;ep  must 
1  with  a 
naintain 
mmit  of 
he  spot, 
vho  gets 
be  hired 
but  the 
ht  from 
1  pound 
;es  have 
its  were 
I.     The 


reasons  for  this  cut  in  prices  are  that  many  miners  insist  on 
doing  their  own  packing,  and  that  their  work  lias  been 
seriously  affected  by  a  tramway  device  which  was  operated 
last  season  with  more  or  less  success  by  one  Peterson,  whose 
inventive  genius  led  him  to  believe  that  a  simple  arrange- 
ment of  ropes  and  pulle3'^s  would  greatly  help  in  getting 
outfits  up  the  steeper  places.  A  small  log  is  buried  in  the 
snow,  and  to  this  "dead  man"  a  pulley  is  attached,  through 
which  a  long  rope  is  passed  to  the  lower  end  of  which  a 


tir,^<  t- 


£~^^. 


..-  ^.  .„■%.. 


tT'  'r,^     ' 


])00   TKAM   PASSING   STONK    HOUSF,    CHII.KOOT    TKAII.. 

Yukon  sleigh  is  attached,  and  the  empty  box  on  the  sled 
fastened  to  the  upper  end  of  the  rope  is  then  filled  with 
snow  until  its  weight  becomes  sufficient  to  take  it  down  the 
incline,  thus  dragging  the  other  one  up.  The  snow  was 
found  too  light,  but  with  three  or  four  men  as  ballast  in 
place  of  snow  it  worked  well,  and  saved  a  good  deal  of  hard 
packing.  When  the  last  load  has  reached  the  summit  and 
the  minor  stands  beside  his  outfit  looking  down  toward  the 
ocean,  only  twenty  miles  away,  he  can  feel  that  his  Journey 


42 


GUIDE  TO  THE  KLONDIKE. 


has  fairly  Ix'giin,  and  as  lie  turns  lie  sees  the  descending 
slope  melting  away  into  the  great  valley  of  the  Yukon. 

"The  descent  for  the  lirst  half  mile  is  steep,  then  a 
gradual  slope  to  Lake  I.indeman,  some  ten  miles  away. 
But  there  is  little  time  for  resting  and  none  for  dreaming, 
as  the  edge  of  the  timber,  where  the  camp  must  be  made, 
is  seven  miles  from  the  summit.  Taking  the  camping  outfit 
and  sullieient  provisions  for  four  or  five  days,  the  sleigh  is 
loaded,  the  rest  of  the  outiit  is  packed  up,  or  buried  in  the 
snow,  sliovels  being  stuck  up  to  mark  the  spot.  This  pre- 
caution is  necessary,  for  storms  come  suddenly  and  rage 
with  fury  along  these  mountain  crests.  The  first  half  mile 
or  more  is  made  in  quick  time,  then  over  six  or  seven  feet 
of  snow  the  prospector  drags  his  sleigh  to  where  there  is 
wood  for  his  camp  lire.  At  times  this  is  no  easy  task, 
especially  if  the  weather  be  stormy,  for  the  winds  blow  the 
new  faiicii  snow  about  so  as  to  com})ietely  cover  the  track 
made  by  the  man  but  little  ahead:  at  other  times  during 
fine  weather  and  with  a  hard  crust  on  the  snow,  it  is  only  a 
pleasant  run  from  the  pass  down  to  the  first  camp  in  the 
Yukon  luisin,.  In  all  except  the  most  sheltered  situations 
the  tent  is  necessary  for  comfort,  and  the  stove  gives  better 
satisfaction  than  the  camp  fire,  as  it  burns  but  little  wood, 
is  easier  to  cook  over,  and  does  not  ])oison  the  eyes  with 
smoke.  It  is  a  noticeable  fact  that  there  are  fewer  cases 
of  snow  blindness  among  those  who  use  stoves  than  among 
those  who  crowd  around  a  smoking  camp  fire  for  cooking 
or  for  warmth.  Comfort  in  making  a  trip  of  this  kind  will 
depend,  in  a  great  measure,  upon  the  conveniences  for 
camping,  suitable  clothing,  and  light,  warm  bedding."' 

At  Lake  IJndenian  it  is  usual  .o  embark  in  boats.  The 
earlier  miners  at  this  point,  or  at  Lake  Bennett,  where  the 
timber  is  much  better,  whipsawed  the  lumber  for  making 
their  boats.      At  present  tbere  is  a  small  sawmill  estab- 


TlIK  ROUTES  or   TRAVKL. 


ceiiding 
on. 

then  a 
;  away, 
earning, 
le  made, 
ig  outfit 
sleigh  is 
d  in  the 
'his  pre- 
nd  rage 
lalf  mile 
\ en  feet 
there  is 
isv  task, 
blow  the 
he  track 
s  during 
is  only  a 
p  in  the 
ituations 
es  better 
le  wood, 
yes  with 
rer  cases 
[1  among 
cooking 
:ind  will 
iiecs  for 

s!     The 

here  the 

making 

1  estab- 


lished, which,  however,  had  dilliciilty  in  su]tplying  the  de- 
mand for  lumber  last  season.  (Jtlicr  mills  are,  however,  to 
be  put  in  at  once. 

The  present  practice,  and  one  which  is  growing  in 
favor,  is  to  have  boats  built  at  Seattle,  of  the  best  selected 
cedar,  "knocked  down,"  shipped  north  by  tlie  steamer  and 
taken  over  the  pass,  to  be  put  together  at  Lake  Lindeman, 
This  not  only  elfects  a  great  saving  in  time,  but  the  boats 
so  built  are  far  superior  to  anything  which  even  a  good 
mechanic  could  construct  out  of  the  snuiU  spruce  timber 
found  on  the  lakes.  Any  man  familiar  with  the  use  of 
carpenter's  tools  can  put  such  a  boat  together,  while  he 
might,  unless  familiar  with  boat-building,  have  some  con- 
siderable difliculty  in  constructing  a  craft  suitable  to  run  in 
swift  and  rough  water,  capable  of  carrying  a  full  outfit  of 
supplies  for  three  or  four  men,  and  yet  light  enough  to  be 
carried  around  a  portage.  The  style  of  boats  generally 
used  are  on  the  Canadian  bateau  order,  iwrrow,  flat  bottom, 
double-endors,  heavy  sheer  at  each  end,  and  a  wide  Hare 
from  the  bottom  to  the  top.  But  everything  from  a  raft 
or  a  scow,  up  to  a  highly  finished  Rob  Hoy  canoe,  has  been 
used  on  the  river. 

A  large  number  of  the  miners  have  preferred,  however, 
to  continue  packing  until  Lake  Bennett  is  reached,  and  at 
this  point  to  build  boats,  or,  as  in  many  instances,  rafts, 
in  wliich  to  continue  their  journey.  The  total  length  of 
the  route  from  Lake  Lindeman  to  the  site  of  old  Fort  Sel- 
kirk, at  the  mouth  of  the  Pelly,  is  three  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  miles.  It  is  in  this  portion  of  the  route  that  all  the 
difficulties  in  navigation  occur.  From  the  Pelly  down  the 
Yukon  is  a  broad  stream,  unvexed  by  rapids,  although  flow- 
ing with  a  swift  current.  The  scenery  around  Lake  Ijinde- 
man  is  wild  and  fine,  although  solitary  and  alpine  in  the 
extreme. 

Lake  Bennett  occupies  a  continuation  of  the  same  valley 


44 


GUIDE  TO  THE   KI,ONDIKE. 


in  which  Lake  Lindeman  lies,  but  is  separated  from  that 
lake  by  a  small,  rapid  stream,  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in 
length.  This  stream  falls  about  twenty  feet  between  the 
two  lakes  and  is  rough  and  rocky.  The  portage  is  on  the 
east  side.  Over  this  the  greater  portion  of  the  goods  are 
carried,  while,  after  the  boat  has  been  considerably  light- 
ened, it  is  let  down  through  the  rapids,  with  lines  attached 
to  it. 

Lake  Bennett  is  twenty-five  and  eight-tenth  miles  in 
length,  and  from  here  to  the  lower  end  of  Marsh  Lake  there 
is  still-water  navigation,  the  rivers  connecting  the  chain 
of  lakes  being  slack,  with  practically  no  current.  These 
lakes  constitute  a  singularly  picturesque  region,  abounding 
in  striking  points  of  view  and  landscapes  pleasing  in  their 
variety,  or  grand  and  impressive  in  their  combination  of 
iiigged  mountain  forms.  Connecting  Lake  Bennett  with 
Tagish  Lake  is  a  narrow  arm  called  by  the  miners  Cariboo 
Crossing,  but  on  tlije  Canadian  maps  it  is  set  down  as  Lake 
Wares.  This  is  two  and  seven-tenth  miles  in  length. 
Lake  Tagish  is  sixteen  and  six-tenth  miles  in  length.  Here 
the  voyagers  are  often  detained  by  high  winds  and  rough 
water  caused  thereby.  "Windy  Arm"  of  the  Tagish  is 
well  named,  for  it  is  through  this  arm  that  the  high  winds 
come,  particularly  in  the  spring  of  the  year.  Another  por- 
tion of  Lake  Tagish  is  the  Tako  Arm,  to  which  further 
reference  will  be  made  when  the  White's  Pass  route  is  being 
described. 

From  Tagish  Lake  a  wide,  tranquil  reach  of  river  con- 
nects it  with  Lake  Marsh.  The  current  is  very  t-lack  and 
the  depth  is  from  six  to  twelve  feet  at  mean  water.  The 
river  is  bordered  by  low  terraces,  which  are  particularly 
wide  on  the  west  side  and  are  covered  with  open  woods, 
chiefly  consisting  of  white  spruce  and  cottonwood.  A  mile 
above  Lake  Marsh,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river,  is  a  small 


45 


THIi   ROl'THS  OF  TRAVEL. 


from  that 
a  mile  in 
itween  the 
!  is  on  the 
goods  are 
ibly  light- 
s  attached 

I  miles  in 
jake  there 
the  chain 
t.    These 
ibounding 
g  in  their 
nation  of 
nett  with 
s  Cariboo 
1  as  Lake 
1  length, 
th.    Here 
tid  rough 
ragish  is 
gh  winds 
ther  por- 
further 
is  being 

Lver  con- 
lack  and 
r.     The 
ticularly 
woods, 
A  mile 
a  small 


village  Oi  the  Tagish  Indians,  consisting  in  the  main  of  two 
roughly-built  houses,  in  which  the  Indians  reside  during 
the  winter. 

Lake  Marsh  (so  named  by  Schwatka)  called  !Mud  Lake 
by  the  miners,  is  twenty  miles  in  length,  with  an  average 
width  of  two  miles.  The  valley  is  quite  wide,  and  the 
country  surrounding  the  lake  quite  low,  consisting  of  ter- 
race flats  or  low  rounded  or  wooded  hills  and  ridges.  The 
diversified  forms  of  mountains  in  view  from  this  lake  ren- 
der it  particularly  picturesque.  The  shores  of  the  lake  are 
generally  rather  shoal.  There  is  no  warrant  in  any  pe- 
culiarities of  the  lake  itself,  for  the  name  Mud  Lake,  applied 
to  it  by  the  miners. 

Between  Marsh  Lake  and  Lake  Lebarge  lies  the  most 
dangerous  portion  of  the  whole  trip.  The  first  portion  of 
the  river  l)etween  these  points  is,  however,  perfectly  safe 
and  easy.  For  the  first  six  miles  the  current  is  quite  slack, 
but  from  that  time  on  a  considerable  current  sets  in.  The 
immediate  river-trough  narrows  in,  being  closely  bordered 
in  by  terraces  a  hundred  or  more  feet  in  height.  At  a 
distance  of  twenty-three  miles  from  Lake  Marsh,  Miles 
Canyon  and  "White  Horse  Kapids  are  encountered. 

Miles  Canyon  and  White  Horse  Eapids  form  together 
the  most  formidable  obstacle  which  will  be  met  with  on 
the  whole  voyage  down  the  river.  The  interruption  to 
navigation  here  is  two  and  three-quarter  miles  in  total 
length.  At  Miles  Canyon  the  river  flows  with  great  veloc- 
ity, but  is  unimpeded  in  its  course,  and  is  not  risky  to  run 
with  a  good  boat.  A  portage  of  five-eights  of  a  mile  is 
sometimes  made,  however,  and  as  a  usual  thing  the  boat  is 
lightened  at  this  point  and  some  portions  of  the  oiu'il 
carried  around.  The  canyon  is  cut  through  a  horizontal, 
or  nearly  horizontal  flow  of  basalt,  and  is  not  more  than 
one  hundred  feet  in  widtli.     To  make  the  portage,  a  very 


M 


THK   ROUTKS  OK  TRAVKI.. 


47 


.    -5? 


2=1  :^ 


v.v 


stoGf^  Hsci'iil  lias  to  be  overcoiiR'.  Warning  notices  in  tho 
8lia[)o  of  ilags  tied  to  sticks  on  the  bank  have  been  placed 
by  the  miners  to  warn  strangers  as  to  the  difTiculties  ahead 
of  them.  This,  in  fact,  has  been  done  at  every  dangerous 
place  on  the  river.  When  such  a  warning  is  noticed,  it  is 
advisa])le  to  land  and  reconnoiter  the  route  ahead  for  some 
distance.  Three-quarters  of  a  mile  below  tho  canyon  the 
river  is  very  swift  and  the  set  of  the  stream  is  strong  around 
a  rocky  point.  There  is  no  diiTiculty  here,  however,  to  any 
person  accustomed  to  tlie  use  of  a  boat.  A  mile  and  three- 
quarters  from  the  foot  of  Miles  Canyon  comes  the  dreaded 
White  Horse  Rapids.  This  rapid  is  three-eighths  of  a  mile 
long.  The  worst  rapid  is  at  the  lower  end  of  the  White 
Horse,  where  the  river  scarcely  exceeds  a  hundred  feet  in 
width,  with  low  basaltic  banks,  and  the  force  of  the  water 
is  very  great.  In  the  upper  part  of  White  Horse,  the  water 
flows  between  low  basalt  clilfs,  about  twenty  feet  in  height, 
and  the  mid  channel  is  well  strewn  with  rocks.  The  White 
Horse  Kapid  has  been  run  by  miners  and  with  safety.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  has  been  the  scene  of  more  mishaps  than 
any  portion  of  the  river.  Several  prospectors  and  miners 
have  lost  their  entire  outfits  in  attempting  this  run  and 
there  have  been  a  few  lives  also  lost  at  this  point.  It  should 
not  be  attempted,  at  least  save  by  those  who  have  had  long 
experience  in  handling  boats  in  swift  water.  The  portage 
is  on  the  west  bank,  and  caution  would  prompt  that  both 
the  boat  and  the  cargo  be  carried  around  it.  The  practice 
is,  however,  to  portage  the  cargo  and  lower  the  boat 
through  by  lines,  managed  from  the  top  of  the  low  cliffs. 

Thirteen  miles  below  the  foot  of  White  Horse  Rapid 
the  mouth  of  the  Takena  is  reached.  This  is  a  consider- 
able stream,  which  is  wide  and  slack  at  its  confluence  with 
the  Yukon.  From  here  on  down  to  Lake  Lebarge,  a  dis- 
tance of  eleven  miles,  the  current  of  the  river  is  quite  slack. 

4-S 


48 


GUIDE  TO  THK   KIvONDIKlt. 


;$v 


Lake  Lebarge  is  a  little  over  thirty-one  miles  in  length. 
It  lies  nearly  north  and  south,  but  is  somewhat  irregular  in 
outline.  It  is  about  two  and  one-half  miles  in  width  at 
the  lower  end,  narrows  in  somewhat  in  the  middle,  and 
finally  increases  to  a  width  of  five  miles  near  Richtofen 
Island.  Its  elevation  above  sea  level  is  approximately 
twenty-one  hundred  feet.  From  the  outlet  of  Lake  Le- 
barge to  Fort  Selkirk,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Pelly,  is  a  dis- 
tance of  two  hundred  miles,  in  which  the  total  descent  is 
five  hundred  and  ninety-five  feet,  or  at  the  rate  of  two  and 
ninety-seven  one-hundredths  feet  to  the  mile. 

Twentv-seven  and  one-half  miles  down  from  Lake  Le- 
barge,  the  mouth  of  the  Tes-lin-too,  called  by  the  miners 
the  Hootalinqua,  is  encountered.  The  river  down  to  this 
point  is  very  crooked.  The  current  for  the  first  three  or 
four  miles  after  leaving  the  lake  is  slack,  but  gradually  be- 
comes stronger,  i.ntil  at  the  Hootalinqua  it  is  very  rapid, 
averaging  six  or  seven  miles  an  hour.  Large  boulders  occur 
in  the  bed  in  some  places.  The  Hootalinqua  will  probably 
be  on  the  route  of  travel  on  tlie  new  Canadian  route  to  the 
Yukon,  being  laid  out  via  tlie  Stickeen  and  the  Cassiar 
mining  region.  Between  the  Hootalinqua  and  the  moutli 
of  the  Big  Salmon,  a  distance  of  thirty-one  miles,  the  river 
continues  narrow  and  deep,  with  a  swift  current.  At  a 
point  nine  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Hootalinqua,  tlie 
width  of  the  river  by  actual  measurement,  was  four  hun- 
dred and  eighty-three  feet,  and  the  current  (in  August) 
was  at  the  rate  of  four  and  eighty-four  one-hundredths 
miles  per  hour.  A  number  of  auriferous  gravel  bars  have 
been  worked  along  this  part  of  the  river,  including  the  Cas- 
siar, one  of  the  richest  bars  struck  during  the  earlier  period 
of  mining.  There  has  lieen  some  considerable  Ijar  mining 
done  on  the  Big  Salmon. 

From  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Salmon  River  to  the  moutli 


THE   ROUTKS  OK  TRAVEI*. 


49 


in  length, 
irregular  in 
n  width  at 
aiddle,  and 
•  Richtofen 
proximately 
f  Lake  Le- 
ly,  is  a  dis- 
1  descent  is 

of  two  and 

n  Lake  Le- 
the miners 
own  to  this 
rst  three  or 
radually  be- 
very  rapid, 
Lilders  occur 
ill  probably 
oute  to  the 
the  Cassiar 
the  moutli 
?,  the  river 
nt.      At  a 
linqua,  tlio 
four  hun- 
n  August) 
lundredths 
1  bars  have 
g  the  Cas- 
lier  period 
|)ar  mining 

the  mouth 


of  Little  Salmon  the  distance  is  thirty-four  miles.  The 
course  of  the  river  is  far  straighter  than  for  any  stretch 
above  or  below  this  point.  The  current  is  not  quite  so 
swift  at  this  portion  of  the  river,  although  at  a  point  about 
midway  between  Big  and  Little  Salmon  both  river  and  its 
valley  are  more  than  usually  narrowed. 

For  a  few  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Salmon, 
the  valley  widens  out  for  a  few  miles,  but  from  that  point 
on  until  the  Eink  Eapid  is  reached,  the  valley  becomes 
irregular  and  somewhat  narrow.  About  forty  miles  below 
the  mouth  of  the  Little  Salmon,  the  Nordenskiold  enters 
the  Lewes  on  the  west  side.  Fifty-three  miles  below  the 
mouth  of  the  Little  Salmon  the  rapids  called  by  Dawson, 
Eink  Eapids,  but  known  to  the  miners  as  Five  Fingers, 
are  encountered.  On  the  bluff,  about  five  and  a  half  miles 
above  Eink  Eapids,  there  is  an  outcropping  of  coal  visible 
on  the  bluff,  about  sixty  feet  above  the  base.  Four  rocky 
islets  divide  the  stream  into  live  channels,  the  water  in  each 
of  which  is  swift  and  turbulent.  The  channel  to  the  ex- 
treme right  is  the  one  to  take.  It  is  well,  however,  before 
running  this,  to  make  a  landing  and  thoroughly  recon- 
noiter.  While  the  water  is  swift,  the  rapid  presents  no 
serious  difficulty.  The  usual  danger  signals  will  be  found 
posted  on  the  bank  of  the  river  above  this  point.  The 
channel  is  deep  and  unobstructed. 

Below  the  main  rapid  there  is  a  second  riffle,  or  minor 
rapid,  wliieh  appears  to  be  somewhat  strong.  The  river 
along  from  here  to  the  moutli  of  the  Polly  is  pleasing  in 
appearance.  It  is  usually  wooded,  but  the  southern  ex- 
])osures  of  some  of  the  hills  are  partly  open  niid  dry,  grass- 
covered  terrace  Hats  are  frec^uent.  liircli  i?;  moderately 
al)undant.  Tatshun  Eiver,  a  mile  and  a  half  below  Five 
Fingers  is  the  first  stream  passed.  The  other  tributaries 
down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Pelly  are  but  small  brooks.     At 


Wf^ 


o 

> 

< 
u 

tr 


I 


THE  ROUTES  OF  TRAVEL. 


51 


o 

< 
u 

Ed 

iJ 

i 


a  point  six  miles  below  Five  Fingers,  where  the  course  of 
the  river  is  uninterrupted  by  islands  and  its  velocity  and 
width  about  normal,  the  rate  of  flow  was  found  to  be  four 
and  eight-tenth  miles  per  hour,  the  width  seven  hundred 
and  thirty-two  feet.  It  is  fifty-five  miles  from  Five  Fin- 
gers to  Fort  Selkirk.  There  are  numerous  islands  in  the 
last  portion  of  this  stre^  ''h  of  the  river  and  about  ten  miles 
above  Fort  Selkirk  these  islands  are  particularly  numerous 
for  a  distance  of  five  miles,  and  the  distance  of  the  river, 
from  bank  to  bank  is  increased  to  nearly  a  mile.  This 
group  was  named  by  Schwatka  the  Ingersoll  Islands. 

From  the  mouth  of  the  Pelly  down,  the  river  is  placid 
and  there  is  no  rough  water,  although  the  current  is  uni- 
formly swift.  It  is  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide  just  below  the 
mouth  of  the  Pelly,  but  gradually  increases  in  width. 
The  ruins  of  Fort  Selkirk,  formerly  a  post  of  the  Hudson 
Bay  Company,  stand  in  a  partly  open  Hat,  on  the  south 
side,  at  a  short  distance  back  from  the  river  and  about  a 
mile  and  a  half  below  the  mouth  of  the  Pellv. 

From  Fort  Selkirk  to  the  mouth  of  White  River,  the 
distance  is  ninety-nine  miles.  This  portion  of  the  trip  is 
simply  drifting  down  stream,  through  a  picturesque  coun- 
try', with  a  swift  current,  smooth  water,  a'  \  no  dangers  to 
be  feared.  Owino;  to  the  swiftness  of  the  -tream,  it  is  a 
matter  of  some  small  difficulty  occasionally  to  elTect  a  land- 
ing at  precisely  the  point  aimed  for,  but  this  is  about  all  the 
difficulty  to  be  encountered. 

Three  miles  below  the  mouth  of  ^Vliite  River,  the  Stew- 
art River  empties  into  the  Yukon,  twenty-one  miles  below 
that  comes  Sixty-Mile,  and  forty-nine  miles  below  Sixty- 
Mile  is  Dawson  City,  near  the  mouth  of  tlie  Klondike, 
probably  the  objective  point  for  most  of  those  who  are 
entering  the  Yukon  country  at  present. 

From  Dawson  City  to  Fort  Cudahy  the  distance  down 


52 


GUIDE  TO  THE   KI^ONDIKE. 


stream  is  fifty  two  and  three-fourths  miles  and  Circle  City 
is  two  hundred  and  forty  miles  still  further  down  the 
stream. 


THE  WHITE  PASS  ROUTE. 

The  descriptioii  already  given  of  the  Chilkoot  Pass 
route  answers  fully  for  that  via  White  Pass,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  crossing  over  from  tide  water  to  the  lakes.  The 
Wliite  Pass  route  commences  at  Skaguay,  five  miles  distant 
from  Dyea,  the  terminus  of  the  Chilkoot  route,  and  up  an- 
other arm  of  the  same  inlet  on  which  Dyea  is  situated. 
Steamers  which  land  passengers  at  Dyea  take  them  also  for 
Skaguay,  and  at  precisely  the  same  rate  of  fare.  White 
Pass,  though  used  heretofore  less  than  the  Chilkoot,  offers 
many  points  of  advantage  over  the  latter.  Within  the  past 
year  a  large  amount  of  work  has  been  done  upon  it  by  par- 
ties interested  in  establishing  a  packing  trail;  and  it  is  now 
readily  passable  for  pack  animals,  with  fair  mountain  trail 
loads.  It  is  estimated  that  an  expenditure  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars  would  suffice  to  construct  via  this  pass  a  wagon  road 
over  which  freight  wagons  could  replace  pack  ponies,  and 
bring  the  freight  rates  down  to  some  reasonable  figures. 
It  is  also  asserted  that  the  terrible  storms  which  prevail  in 
the  Chilkoot  Pass  during  the  spring  and  winter  are  not 
felt  in  the  White  Pass,  or  at  least,  are  nothing  like  as 
serious. 

This  pass  leaves  the  coast  at  the  mouth  of  the  Skaguay 
River,  five  miles  south  of  the  head  of  Dyea  Inlet,  and  runs 
parallel  to  Chilkoot  Pass  at  no  great  distance  from  it.  The 
distance  from  the  coast  to  the  summit  is  seventeen  miles,  of 
which  the  "^Tst  five  miles  h  level  bottom  land  thickly  tim- 
bered. The  next  nine  miles  in  in  a  canyon-like  valley, 
where  considerable  work  has  been  necessary  to  make  a 


THE   ROUTKvS  OK  TRAVF.L. 


53 


passable  trail.  The  remaining  three  miles  to  the  summit 
is  comparatively  easy.  The  altitude  of  the  summit  is  esti- 
mated at  twenty-six  himdred  feet  or  nine  hundred  feet 
lower  than  the  summit  of  Chilkoot.  Beyond  the  summit 
a  wide  valley  is  entered  and  the  descent  to  the  first  little 
lake  is  not  more  than  one  hundred  feet.  The  mountains 
rapidly  decrease  in  height  and  abruptness  after  the  summit 
is  passed  and  the  valley  bifurcates,  one  branch  leading  to 
the  head  of  "Windy  Arm  of  Tagish  Lake,  the  other  (down 
which  the  water  drains)  going  to  Tako  Arm  of  the  same 
lake.  It  is  to  the  Tako  Arm  that  the  trail  is  constructed. 
The  total  descent  from  the  summit  to  Tako  Arm  is  rather 
less  than  five  hundred  feet.  Xo  engineering  difliculties  are 
presented  to  making  a  first  class  wagon  road  by  this  route, 
or  even  if  occasion  arises,  a  railroad.  The  distance  to  Tako 
Arm  from  Skaguay  by  the  White  Pass  trail  is  (estimated) 
thii'ty-five  miles,  somewhat  longer  than  by  Chilkoot,  but  a 
much  easier  route.  The  Tako  Arm  is,  from  where  the  trail 
reaches  it,  to  Lake  Tagish  proper,  about  twenty  miles  in 
length  (estimated).  From  Lake  Tagish,  tlie  remainder  of 
the  voyage  down  the  Yukon  is  precisely  the  same  as  here- 
to fore  described. 

The  White  Pass  route  apparently  would  be  an  admira- 
ble one  to  adopt  for  sledding  supplies  over  on  the  snow  in 
the  winter  or  early  spring,  as  is  done  over  the  Chilkoot 
route. 

This  route  has  never  been  used  to  any  extent  until  this 
year.  While  the  grades  are  very  much  lighter,  and  the 
altitudes  very  much  lower,  than  by  the  Chilkoot  Pass,  a 
considerable  amount  of  work  was  necessary  to  make  a  trail. 
No  government  assistance  eoukl  bo  had;  there  is  no  organ- 
ized government  of  any  description  in  Alaska  authorized  to 
expend  a  cent  in  building  roads,  and  these  is  no  machinery 
for  the  collection  of  taxes  for  such  a  purpose.     It  requires 


tft 


?    t^ 


as 


THK  ROUTES  OF  TRAVKI,. 


55 


private  enterprise  to  make  all  such  roads  or  trails  as  are 
projected  in  Alaska.  This  year  some  enterprising  in- 
dividual, who  desiied  to  put  on  a  pack  team  of  ponies  and 
transport  supplies  for  miners,  at  their  own  expense  have 
opened  the  White  Pass  trail.  Recent  reports  from  those 
who  have  gone  over  this  trail  are  to  the  etl'ect  that  it  is  in 
every  way  preferable  to  the  Chilkoot  Pass  route,  and  offers 
no  more  difficulties  than  are  presented  in  every  ordinary 
mountain  pack  trail.  In  view  of  these  facts,  it  is  recom- 
mended that  White  Pass  be  selected  by  all  who  intend  to 
go  in  by  the  overland  route.  Work  in  improving  the  trail 
will  be  carried  on  from  this  time  forward,  in  such  a  manner 
as  not  to  interfere  with  the  present  use  of  the  trail  for  pack- 
ing purposes. 


f! 


THE  CHILKAT  PASS  ROUTE. 

But  little  is  really  known  about  this  pass,  othei-  than  it 
is  claimed  by  the  Indians  to  be  much  lower  and  more  open 
than  that  by  the  Chilkoot.  It  starts  from  an  inlet  north 
of  that  on  which  Dyea  is  situated.  By  this  route  the  chain 
of  lakes  referred  to  is  altogether  avoided,  and  the  rivtr 
is  reached  about  the  mouth  of  the  Takena.  At  least 
this  is  the  supposition,  as  the  Indians  say  tliat  it 
takes  twelve  days  to  carry  packs  by  this  route,  as 
against  two  days  via  Chilkoot  Pass.  The  Indians 
themselves  have  used  this  route  but  very  little  on  account 
of  the  long  carry  passage.  It  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Cliilkat  Pass  th^t  the  Jack  Dalton  trail,  by  which  cattle 
can  be  driven  into  the  Yukon  country,  starts.  This  trail 
reach 'o  the  river  in  the  neighborhood  of  Fort  Selkirk,  and 
passes  for  its  entire  distance,  according  to  accounts, 
through  a  good  grass  country. 


56 


(.I'lDE  TO  THK    KI.ONDIKK 


THE  TAKU   ROUTE. 


A  proposed  new  route,  which,  according  to  the  best  in- 
formation at  hand,  promises  well  for  the  fntiire,  although 
it  is  not  yet  in  use,  is  one  by  Takii  Inlet,  np  the  Taku  River, 
thence  by  portage  to  Lake  Altin,  thence  by  connecting 
river  to  the  Tako  Arm  of  Lake  Tagish,  the  remainder  of 
the  route  being  tlie  same  as  by  Cliilkoot  and  Wiiile  Pass. 
The  length  of  }»ortage  from  the  licad  of  this  lake  to  the 
Indian  houses  on  tlie  Taku  River  is  variously  stated  by  the 
Indians  as  from  t\\  o  to  four  days.  There  is  an  Indian  trail 
over  this  route,  said  to  be  good,  and  with  no  heavy  grades 
to  cross,  the  only  ascent  being  simply  to  reacli  the  elevation 
of  the  lakes. 


THE   STICKEEN   ROUTE. 

Tliis  is  tlie  one  which  the  Dominion  Government  is  aid- 
ing by  appropriations  to  have  established.  It  is  yet  under 
construction,  and  no  one  except  the  builders  and  explorers 
have  as  yet  passed  over  it.  By  the  late  spring  of  1898,  it 
will  be  in  use.  By  this  route  steamers  from  Seattle  are 
taken  to  Fort  Wrangel,  Alaska,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Stickeen 
River.  There  one  of  the  stern -wheel  river  boats  takes  the 
passenger  up  the  river  some  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
to  Telegraph  Creek.  From  there  a  trail  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  readies  Teslin  Lake,  in  which  the  river 
called  by  the  miners  the  Hootalinqua  heads.  Boating 
down  the  Hootalinqua  is  the  same  as  described  in  other 
rivers.  It  is  believed  that  stern-wheel  steamers  can  oper- 
ate up  the  Hootalinqua  clear  to  Lake  Teslin.  Undoubt- 
edly a  good  deal  of  travel  will  in  time  go  in  by  this  route. 

The  Stickeen  is  one  of  the  swiftest  and  most  turbulent 
streams  which  empty  into  the  Pacific.  It  abounds  in  bars^ 
rapids  and  rifllos.       The  steamers  which  ply  up  it  have  a 


THE  ROUTES  OK  TRAVIU,. 


3/ 


slow  and  dangerous  trip.  At  many  places  on  the  river 
cables  are  made  fast  to  shore  "anchors,"  and  carried  to 
a  steam  capstan  aboard  to  enable  the  steamers  to  get  over 
the  rapids.  The  "White  Horse"  Rapids  of  the  Yukon  has 
dozens  of  counterparts  in  the  Stickeen.  The  trip  up  the 
river  by  boat  is  exciting,  picturesque,  but  dangerous.  It 
requires  about  two  weeks'  time  to  ascend  the  river  in  a  good 
season,  and  about  two  days  to  come  down,  the  steamers 
backing  water  all  the  wav.  After  arrivirii?  at  the  head  of 
navigation  a  land  journey  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
brings  the  passengers  by  this  route  just  n])out  as  far  on 
their  journey  to  the  gold  fields  as  they  are  when  they  have 
crossed  the  White  Pass  on  the  route  by  Skaguay  Inlet.  As 
this  route  lies  almost  entirely  within  Canadian  territory, 
and  as  the  steamers  on  the  Stickeen  river  are  owned  by 
Canadian  capitalists,  every  effort  is  being  made  by  the  Ca- 
nadian authorities  to  divert  trade  to  this  route.  To  this 
end  they  are  imposing  many  petty  restrictions  upon  the 
passengers  by  way  of  Dyea  and  Skaguay;  are  levying  cus- 
toms dues  upon  their  personal  outfits,  and,  in  fact,  have  in 
general  adopted  a  policy  of  petty  persecution  toward  those 
who  are  attempting  to  reach  the  country  by  the  established 
rentes  of  travel.  They  also  refuse  to  permit  persons  to 
enter  their  territory  by  this  route  who  have  less  than 
one  year's  provisions.  So  far,  liowever,  not  a  single 
party  outfitting  for  the  Yukon  has  attempted  to  reach 
that  country  by  the  long,  dangerous  and  expensive 
route  via  the  Stickeen  river.  The  ice  goes  out  of 
the  Stickeen  about  the  same  time  as  it  does  out  of 
the  Yukon,  so  it  will  be  at  least  two  weeks  later  in  the  spring 
before  passengers  can  reach  the  mines  by  the  Stickeen 
route  t])an  by  eitlier  the  White  Pass  or  the  Chilkoot  routes. 
The  foreiroinfT  covers  all  of  the  land  routes  to  the  Yukon 
from  ports  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  which  are  a?  yet  known 


I 


58 


C.UIDR  TO  THK   KLONDIKE. 


Of  these,  liowever,  none  save  those  by  the  Chilkoot  and  the 
"Wliite  Pass  have  ever  ])een  used  I'or  actual  purposes  of 
travel;  and  they  are  the  ones  recommended  to  be  taken. 
The  land  journey  is  the  shortest  by  them  by  a  very  large 
distance,  and  the  river  trip  presents  no  obstacles  which  are 
not  likely  to  be  encountered  on  each  of  the  other  routes. 

It  should  be  kept  in  mind  that  all  the  foregoing  in- 
formation as  to  the  various  routes  of  travel  by  the  so-called 
inland  route  applies  to  conditions  as  they  exist  at  present, 
in  the  early  part  of  August,  1897.  Before  the  end  of  the 
summer  1898  a  decidedly  different  condition  of  affairs  will 
exist,  and  the  trip  will  be  a  very  much  easier  one  to  make. 
There  are  already  quite  a  number  of  transportation  com- 
panies organized  for  the  purpose  of  building  stern- wheel 
steamers  to  ply  on  the  waters  of  the  Upper  Yukon;  and 
there  are  also  many  schemes  on  foot  for  increasing  the 
number  of  steamers  on  the  lower  river.  The  probabilities 
are  strong  that  before  next  summer  is  over  a  prospector  or 
miner  can  take  a  steamer  at  Lake  Bennett,  or  more  proba- 
bly at  the  Taku  Arm  of  Lake  Tagish  and  proceed  to  Daw- 
son with  only  one  short  portage,  that  around  Miles  Canyon 
and  White  Horse  liapids,  already  described.  The  trail 
across  White  Pass  by  the  same  time  will  probably  be  broad- 
ened out  into  a  practicable  wagon  road.  As  compared 
with  roads  into  the  mountain  regions  of  Colorado  or  Cali- 
fornia, the  grades  are  lighter  and  conditions  much  more 
favorable  across  White  Pass  than  in  many  places  in  those 
states,  where  all  the  freighting  is  done  by  wagons.  It  is 
estimated  that  fifty  thousand  dollars  would  convert  the 
White  Pass  trail  into  a  good  road,  across  which  "trailer** 
waffon  trains  could  be  driven;  thus  not  onlv  reducins]r  the 
cost  of  freighting  very  materially,  but  enabling  the  traffic 
for  the  mines  to  be  handled  over  this  route,  in  competition 
with  the  all  water  route  via  St.  Michaels  and  the  mouth 


THE   ROUTES  OF  TRAVEL. 


59 


of  the  Yukon.  When  a  practicable  road  is  thus  opened, 
and  when  steamers  are  put  on  the  upper  river,  as  will  in- 
evitably be  done,  and  that  during  the  next  twelve  months, 
it  will  be  possible  for  a  passenger  to  reach  Dawson  City 
from  Seattle  within  a  week,  if  close  connections  are  made. 

On  this  overland  rouic,  the  question  as  to  cost  depends 
very  largely  on  the  manner  in  which  the  trip  is  made  and 
somewhat  also  depends  upon  the  season  of  the  year.  The 
fare  from  Seattle  to  Dyea  and  Skaguay  will  amount 
to  from  twenty-five  to  forty-five  dollars."  If  the  party 
going  in  is  unprovided  with  horses,  and  the  trip  is 
in  summer,  the  cost  of  packing  the  outfit  over  the 
summit  will  vary  from  ten  to  twenty  cents  per  pound. 
On  an  outfit  weighing  twelve  hundred  pounds  it  would 
be  safe  to  estimate  an  outlay  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty  dollars  for  this.  Then  at  prices  which  have 
heretofore  prevailed,  a  boat  at  Lake  Bennett,  suitable  for 
carrying  four  men  and  their  outfits  down  the  river  would 
cost  sixty  dollars.  On  the  other  hand,  if  horses  are  taken, 
the  fare  for  each  horse  to  Skaguay  would  be  twenty-two 
dollars  and  fifty  cents,  the  price  of  the  horse  in  Seattle 
being  from  twenty  to  thirty  dollars.  A  "knock-down" 
boat,  ready  to  put  together,  would  cost  about  twenty  dollars 
in  Seattle.  A  party  doing  their  own  packing,  with  horses, 
would  thus  save  the  item  of  packing  at  fifteen  cents  a 
pound,  and  could  probably  sell  their  horses  to  other  parties 
for  all  they  cost,  or  even  more. 

In  the  spring,  before  the  thaws  come,  provisions  are 
taken  across  the  divide  on  hand  sleds,  work  which  the  trav- 
elers themselves  are  usually  compelled  to  do,  in  the  absence 
of  any  regular  supply  of  labor.  This  is  laborious  work, 
but  it  has  the  advantage  of  being  inexpensive.  By  getting 
on  the  ground  early,  and  taking  advantage  of  the  pleasant 
weather,  all  the  necessary  supplies  can  be  safely  taken  over 


6o 


GUIDE  TO  THE   KLONDIKE. 


the  pass  and  landed  at  the  lake  at  no  actual  outlay  in 
money.  This  latter  is  the  plan  pursued  by  all  of  the  expe- 
rienced Yukon  miners,  who  have  been  going  into  the  coun- 
try for  years. 


,  '*^..., 


THK   AIJ.  WATKR    ROHTK. 


6l 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  ALL  WATER  ROUTE. 

Until  such  time,  however,  as  good  roads  are  built  across 
the  passes  to  the  lakes  at  the  headwaters  of  the  Yukon,  or, 
indeed,  until  a  railroad  is  built  into  the  country,  by  long 
odds  the  most  comfortable,  and  probably  in  the  long  run 
the  cheapest  route  into  the  gold  fields  of  the  Klondike  and 
those  on  the  various  other  tributaries  of  the  Yukon,  is  by 
the  way  of  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon,  and  by  river  steamers 
up  from  ihat  point-  Even  at  the  present  time  this  trip 
can  be  made  cheaply  and  at  a  minimum  of  discomfort.  It 
is  .neither  longer,  more  arduous  nor  more  expensive  than 
was  the  voyage  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco  by  the 
way  of  the  isthmus,  after  the  completion  of  the  railroad 
across  the  isthmus,  and  before  the  railroad  era.  The  hard- 
ships, diiTioultles  and  dangers  of  the  trip  into  the  new  gold 
fields,  so  ofron  described,  apply  solely  to  the  overland  route. 
The  all-water  route  is  by  ocean  steamships  from  Seattle  to 
St.  Michael's;  thence  by  river  boat  up  to  Dawson  City, 
Circle  City,  or,  in  fact,  to  any  river  point.  Tlie  North 
American  Transportation  &  Trading  Company,  which  has 
its  head  offices  in  Seattle,  has  developed  this  route,  and  has 
now  improved  its  transportation  facilities  to  the  point,  that 
even  delicate  women  who  desire  to  take  a  brief  glimpse  at 
the  wonderful  life  of  a  new  and  uncommonly  rich  mining 
camp,  can  make  a  summer  excursion  to  the  Klondike  and 
return,  all  the  time  enjoying  all  the  comforts  which  can  be 
had  on  any  steamer. 

The  North  American  Transportation  &  Trading  Com- 
pany has  at  present  two  ocean  steamers  plying  between  Se- 


63 


GUIDE  TO  THK   KI.ONDIKE. 


attle  and  St.  Michael's— the  Portland,  uitli  a  passenger 
capacity  of  125,  and  the  Cleveland,  M'liich  can  accommo- 
date 350.  At  St.  Michael's  these  steamship  connect  with 
the  river  boats  of  the  company,  a  fleet  of  three  large  stem- 
wheel  steamers,  the  P.  B.  Wearc,  the  J.  J.  Healy  and  the 
Charles  H.  Hamilton.  The  latter  of  these  is  195  feet 
long,  20  feet  beam  and  has  a  registered  tonnage  of  1,000. 
She  is  equipped  with  powerful  machinery  and  can  make 
the  trip  to  Dawson  City  against  the  strong  Yukon  current 
in  about  twelve  day*-.  The  other  river  boats  are  but  slightly 
inferior.  These  river  boats  were  built  at  Seattle  ship- 
yards, were  sent  north  in  sections  and  put  together  at  St. 
Michael's,  the  Hamilton  having  been  launched  in  July, 
1897.  Xor  is  this  all.  Foreseeing  the  rush,  the  same 
company  has  let  the  contract  in  Seattle  for  six  more  boats, 
four  the  same  size  of  the  Hamilton,  one  somewhat  smaller, 
and  the  sixth  a  powerful  river  tugboat  to  tow  barges  laden 
with  freight  up  the  river. 

The  company  has  also  announced  that  it  will  imme- 
diately build  on  the  Atlantic  coast  three  large,  commodious 
and  swift  ocean  steamers,  which  will  be  brought  around  by 
the  Straits  of  Magellan,  t<^  be  put  on  the  route  between 
Seattle  and  St.  Michael's,  these  steamers  to  airive  before  the 
river  reopens  to  navigation  in  the  spring.  This  will  insure 
the  sailing  on  this  route  of  one  steamer  every  week,  car- 
rying 1,200  passengers  and  upwards. 

The  Alaska  Commercial  Company  has  also  a  route  to 
the  moutli  of  the  Yukon,  with  San  Francisco  as  the  point 
of  departure.  The  Excelsior,  a  powerful  but  somewhat 
slow  freight  boat,  has  been  chartered  by  the  company,  and 
makes  summer  trips  to  San  Frauciscc.  The  Excelsior, 
with  her  heavy  planking  and  timbering,  was  enabled  the 
present  year  to  break  through  the  ice  and  bring  out  the 
first  of  the  returning  Klondike  miners  with  their  golden 


THE   ALI^  WATER   ROUTK 


63 


frci<;lit.  The  Alaska  Couniiercial  Company  has  also  tliree 
of  four  small  stcrn-whecl  steamers  on  the  river,  designed 
primarily  to  carry  goods  for  the  company's  various  trading 
posts,  hut  which  can  he  used  as  passenger  hoats. 

These  two  companies  have  heen  engaged  in  the  trans- 
portation and  trading  husiness  in  the  Yukon  for  years. 
They  will  now,  however,  have  to  meet  with  active  competi- 
tion, all  of  which  will  redound  to  the  advaiitago  of  the 
traveling  puhlic.  From  jiresent  indications,  hy  next  spring 
there  will  he  half  a  tlozeii  additional  ocean  steamers  on  the 
route  from  Seattle  to  St.  Michael's,  and  there  will  certainly 
be  an  addition  of  fifteen  or  twenty  to  the  fleet  of  river 
steamers. 

'i'he  Yukon  Transjiortation  Company,  organized  in 
Seattle  and  with  a  sufhcient  capital,  luis  purchased 
the  steamer  Eliza  Anderson  and  put  her  on  the  route 
between  Seattle  and  St.  Michaels;  the  stern-wheel  steamer 
AV.  K.  Merwin  has  also  been  sent  north,  in  tow  of 
a  tug  boat,  to  run  on  the  river  in  connection  with  the  Eliza 
Andersdn.  The  lyierwin  was  built  expressly  for  river  work 
and  will  be  able  to  make  better  time  on  the  up  river  rim 
than  any  vessel  now  on  the  river  unless  it  be  the  new  large 
steamers  of  the  North  American  Transportation  &  Trading 
Company. 

The  Seattle  &  Yukon  Commercial  Company  is  the  lat- 
est to  enter  the  field.  This  corporation  has  but  just  been 
organized,  but  it  will  have  one  steamer  to  St.  ^lichaels,  and 
one  up  the  river  this  season.  Next  season  it  will  increase 
its  transportation  facilities  largely.  This  company  has 
recently  chartered  in  San  Francisco  the  nund)()l(lt,  a  new 
steamship  of  about  1,000  tons  burden,  just  completed,  and 
which,  it  is  claimed,  is  one  of  the  fastest  vess(»ls  in  Pacific 
waters.  A  ])owerful  steam  barge  belonging  to  the  com- 
pany will  carry  passengers  from  St.  ^Michael's  to  Dawson 


,s-s 


64 


GUIDE  TO  THE   KLONDIKE. 


City.  Other  boats  will  be  put  on  by  this  company  in 
in  the  spring-  It  is  impossible  to  furnish  informa- 
tion which  will  be  fully  up  to  date  as  to  the  trans- 
portation facilities  which  will  be  offered  by  the  out- 
side route,  the  coming  season.  In  the  very  brief  interval 
between  the  writing  of  the  manuscript  and  the  time  when 
this  pamplilet  appears,  half  a  dozen  different  transporta- 
tion schemes,  now  inchoate,  may  and  quite  likely  will  ma- 
terialize. This  much  is  certain,  however,  that  the  various 
transportation  companies  now  organized  or  being  organ- 
ized, will  be  able  to  handle  next  season  all  the  travel  which 
may  offer  for  the  Yukon  by  the  outside  or  all-water  route, 
and  that  there  will  be  not  less  than  one  steamer  each  week 
leave  Seattle  for  St.  Michaels,  makinir  close  connection 
with  the  river  boats. 

The  time  during  wliich  the  Yukon  River  is  navigable 
varies  with  the  season.  As  a  general  rule  it  may  be  stated 
that  the  river  is  open  from  about  the  middle  of  April  until 
the  latter  half  of  September.  In  1896  the  river  did  not 
close  until  about  September  25,  at  wliich  time  &  heavy 
snow  storm  set  in,  wliich  chilled  the  river  so  it  closed  in 
a  few  days.  Between  these  dates  the  all-river  route  fur- 
nishes, under  existing  conditions,  the  most  comfortable 
route  to  the  mines  by  all  odds. 

The  objections  whicli  have  heretofore  existed  to  tliis 
route  are  that  the  two  companies,  the  Nortli  American 
Transportation  &  Trading  Company,  and  the  Alaska  Com- 
mercial Company,  which  controlled  both  the  transportation 
lines,  also  owned  all  the  trading  posts  which  have  yet  been 
established  on  the  Yukon.  The  freight  capacity  of  botli 
their  ocean  and  river  l)oats,  as  well  as  of  the  barges  whicli 
the  river  boats  take  in  tow,  was  all  needed  for  their  own  sup- 
plies. They  have  heretofore  been  compelled,  in  conse- 
quence, to  refuse  to  tak'3  freight,  even  the  outfits  of  intend- 


L'*//* 


THE  At,!-.  WATER  ROUTE. 


65 


ing  miners  and  prospectors,  and  have  limited  the  amount 
of  personal  baggage  for  each  passenger  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  and  to  obviate 
any  inconvenience  which  might  be  occasioned  by  the  failure 
of  the  passengers  to  get  their  own  supplies  into  the  country, 
the  North  American  Transportation  &  Trading  Company 
has  obligated  itself  to  each  passenger  to  supply  him  from 
the  company's  trading  posts  with  all  supplies  which  he  may 
require  for  his  own  personal  use  at  Seattle  prices,  with 
freight  added  at  the  rate  wliich  the  company  would  have 
charged  had  it  carried  freight  for  individupls. 

The  new  transportation  companies  which  have  entered 
the  field,  however,  are  willing  to  carry  a  full  year's  outfit  of 
clothing,  provisions  and  tools  for  each  passenger.  This  is 
what  the  Eliza  Anderson  does  this  season,  and  what  all  the 
newer  transportation  companies  will  probably  do  next 
season. 

As  against  the  greater  ease,  convenience  and  comfort 
of  the  all-river  route  there  is  to  be  offset  the  fact  that  the 
route  by  Dyea  or  Skaguay  and  the  upper  river  permits  ac- 
cess to  the  country  earlier  in  the  spring.  Those  coming 
down  the  river  from  its  headwaters,  follow  the  ice  down, 
while  the  steamers  which  have  to  come  up  the  river  have 
to  wait  until  the  ice  is  pretty  well  out  before  starting. 

As  to  time,  it  takes  from  ten  to  fifteen  days  for  a  steam- 
ship to  make  the  run  to  St.  Michael's,  dependent,  of  course, 
upon  the  speed  of  the  vessel  and  the  character  of  weather 
which  she  encounter?.  The  distance  is  ron^jhly  estimated 
at  three  thousand  miles.  The  distance  up  the  Yukon  from 
St.  Michaels  to  Dawson  City  is  estimated  at  seventeen  hun- 
dred and  twenty-two  miles.  As  there  is  a  heavy  current  to 
contend  with,  the  usual  estimate  of  the  time  which  it  takes 
to  make  this  trip  is  fifteen  days. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  summer  season  of  1897, 


66 


GUIDK  TO  THK   KLONDIKE. 


the  fare  from  Seattle  to  Dawson  Citv  bv  the  steamers  of 
the  North  American  Transportation  &  Trading  Company 
was  one  hnndred  and  twenty-five  dollars  second  class,  one 
hundred  and  forty  dollars  first  class.  On  the  Cleveland, 
chartered  by  the  same  com]iany,  sailinji;  August  5,  the  fare 
was  raised  to  two  hundred  dollars  for  all  classes.  The  latest 
quotations  for  the  season  Mere  three  hundred  dollars  for 
each  ])assenger  and  his  outfit,  on  steamers  of  the  Seattle  & 
Yukon  Trading  Company,  just  organized.  What  the  price 
will  be  in  the  coming  s])ring,  when  tliis  route  is  again 
opened  for  use,  cannot  be  predicted.  With  the  number  of 
coni]ianies  which  are  projected,  and  which  will  be  in  the 
field  at  that  time,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  fare  will  not  ex- 
ceed one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  and  may  fall  below  that 
figure. 

Seattle  will  be  the  point  of  de])arture  for  nearly  all  of 
these  transportation  lines.  The  shortness  of  the  season 
makes  it  necessary  to  reacli  railroad  terminals  in  the  short- 
est space  of  time,  so  that  as  many  trins  as  possible  may  be 
made  before  ice  closes  the  river.  It  is  about  two  days 
shorter  trip  from  Seattle  to  St.  Michael's  by  the  steamship 
routes,  and  thus  the  majority  of  tlie  steamship  lines  to  the 
Yukon  will  terminate  here. 


NKCKSSARY   OUTFITS   AND   WHERK  TO  GET  THKM. 


67 


CHAPTER   VI. 


THE   NECESSARY   OUTFITS   AND   WHRRE 
TO  GET  THEM. 

The  most  serious  and  iinportaiu  (question  which  cou- 
fronts  the  iiitouding  iininigraiit  to  the  Yukon  jrold  fields 
is  as  to  what  amount  and  eharacter  of  an  outiit  sliould  be 
taken  with  liim  on  his  journey  into  that  country.  It  should 
be  remembered  that  there  lias  been  a  slow  and  gradual  de- 
velo})ment  of  the  mineral  resources  of  the  Yukon,  during 
which  the  mining  population  has  increased  year  by  year  by 
a  few  lnindred-3  at  a  time.  Xearly  every  one  of  those  who 
went  in  carried  with  him  on  the  start  sup})lies  to  last  hiin 
for  from  six  months  to  a  year.  With  this  gradual  increase 
in  po])ulation,  the  trading  posts  and  transportation  com- 
panies have  kept  ])ace,  and  have  had  no  difficulty  in  supply- 
ing the  wants  of  the  newcomers,  after  their  first  stock  of 
provisions  has  been  exhausted.  Xow,  however,  the  move- 
ment toward  the  Yukon  is  in  the  nature  of  a  "rush,"  tlie 
dimensions  of  which  no  one  can  accuratelv  forecast.  The 
enterprise  of  merchants  and  transportation  companies  can 
be  relied  on  to  ])rovide  ultimately  for  the  wants  of  all  the 
mining  population  which  may  pour  into  the  Yukon,  no 
matter  how  extensive  tliat  population  may  be.  Tliis  takes 
time,  and  in  tlie  rush  for  the  new  country  it  is  safe  to  sav 
tluit  the  would-be  miners  and  ]>rospectors  M'ill  bo  on  the 
ground  ahead  of  the  traders  and  merchants.  There  will 
be  a  period  of  pro1)al)ly  nine  months,  possibly  a  year,  dur- 
ing which  tliose  who  go  to  the  Clondyke  or  any  other  of 
the  mining  regions  on  tlie  Yukon  will  be  compelled  to  rely 


K 
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-.«? 


NECESSARY  OUTFITS   AND  WHERE  TO  GET  THEM. 


69 


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for  their  subsistence  entirely  upon  such  supplies  as  they 
may  take  into  the  country.  Good  sound  judgment  would 
dictate  that  every  man  who  intends  to  go  into  the  Yukon 
now,  or  any  time  within  the  next  year,  should  take  with 
him  at  least  one  full  year's  supply  of  food  and  clothing. 
This  is  the  advice  given  by  every  single  man  who  is  mining 
upon  the  Yukon,  without  any  exception.  It  is  the  one 
point  on  which  they  all  dwell  the  longest,  Tliey  feel  a 
personal  interest  in  pressing  this  home  on  the  new  immi- 
grants, for  the  reason  that  there  is  practically  six  months 
in  the  year  during  which  no  provisions  can  be  got  into  the 
country.  If  there  is  a  rush  of  new  men  in  there,  unpro- 
vided with  food,  and  the  inevitable  shortage  of  provisions 
follows  during  the  Arctic  winter,  those  who  have  provisions 
will  be  forced  to  the  alternative  of  sharing  them  with  the 
unprovided,  at  the  cost  of  considerable  suffering  to  them- 
selves, or  of  seeing  men  starve  before  their  eyes.  They 
realize  this  better  than  any  one  else,  and  hence  the  earnest- 
ness with  which  they  impress  this  home  on  all  who  consult 
them  in  regard  to  the  matter  of  outfitting. 

There  is  still  another  point  which  must  be  taken  into 
consideration.  The  amount  of  provisions  which  it  is  esti- 
mated will  be  necessary  to  last  a  man  for  a  year  looks  at 
first  sight  to  be  exhorbitant,  especially  to  men  who  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  purchasing  their  own  family  supplies, 
and  who  have  kept  a  close  watch  on  their  family  expen.ses. 
It  is,  however,  the  uniform  experience  of  the  men  who  have 
wintered  in  the  Arctic  or  in  regions  like  the  Yukon,  where 
there  is,  for  months  on  a  stretch,  an  extremely  low  range 
of  temperature,  that  during  the  winter  there  is  a  demand 
for  and  a  consumption  of  food,  which  would  bo  considered 
as  abnormal,  measured  by  the  standard  of  more  temperate' 
climates.  This  excessive  amount  of  footls,  particularly  of 
llio  animal  fats,  seems  to  be  necessarv  to  ]u'rniit  the  body 


70 


GUIDE  TO  THE   KI^ONDIKE. 


to  endure  the  extremely  low  temperature.  Every  work 
on  Arctie  explorations  makes  note  of  this  faet,  which  is 
borne  out  l>y  the  experiences  of  the  Yukon  miners.  Esti- 
mates by  the  dozen  have  been  made  and  published  by  ex- 
perienced men.  They  vary  little  in  aggregate  amount,  the 
dilVerence  being  mainly  in  the  smaller  items.  Among  the 
men  who  have  had  the  largest  experiences  upon  the  Yukon 
is  A.  0.  Carr,  who  carried  the  mail  into  that  country  on 
several  dilu'rent  occasions,  lie  has  had  occasion  to  outfit 
several  dill'crent  times,  and  has  spent  many  winters  on  the 
Yukon.  The  following  is  Can's  estimate  of  the  outfit  of 
one  ninn  for  a  year.  As  far  as  the  ])rovisi()ns  are 
concerned,  it  is  precisely  the  outfit  whicli  Carr  himself 
purchased  here  in  Seattle  for  his  own  use  befort^  proceeding 
north.  The  tools  and  hardware  are  those  whicli  he  already 
has  on  hand  in  the  Yukon  country: 

Flour,  pounds 400 

Cornmeal,  pounds 50 

Rolled  oats,  pounds 50 

Rice,  pounds  35 

Beans,  pounds  100 

Candles,  pounds 40 

Sugar,  granulated,  pounds   '.  100 

Baking  powder,  pounds  8 

Bacon,  pounds  ^00 

Soda,  pounds   2 

Yeast  cakes  (6  in  package) ,  packages 6 

Salt,  pounds  15 

Pepper,  pounds  1 

Mustard,  pounds  Vz 

Ginger,  pounds V* 

Apples,  evaporated,  pounds  25 

Peaches,  evaporated,  pounds  25 

•  Apricots,  evaporated,  pounds   25 

Fish,  pounds 25 

Pitted  plums,  pounds 1<> 

Raisins,  pounds 10 


NECESSARY  OUTFITS  AND  WHERE  TO  GET  THEM. 


71 


^ 

y* 


Onions,  evaporated,  pounds 50 

Potatoes,  evaporated,  pounds  50 

€offee,  pounds  24 

Tea,  pounds   5 

Milk,  condensed,  dozen   4 

Soap,  laundry,  bars 5 

Matches,  packages  60 

Soup  vegetables,  pounds 15 

Butter,  sealed,  cans  25 

Tobacco,  at  discretion 

Stove,  steel  1 

Gold  pan 1 

Granite  buckets,  1  nest  of 3 

Cups 1 

Plates  (tin)  1 

Knives  and  forks,  eacli 1 

Spoons — Tea,  1 ;  table  2 

Whetstone  1 

Coffee  pot 1 

Frying  pans   2 

Saw,  hand   1 

Saw,  whip  1 

Hatchet 1 

Shovel,  y^  spring 2 

Nails,  pounds  20 

Files 3 

Drawknit'e   1 

Ax  and  handle   1 

Chisel,  i/^-inch  3 

Butcher  knife  1 

Hammer  1 

Jack  plane  1 

Square  1 

Yukon  sleigh   1 

Lash  rope,  l^-inch,  feet 60 

Rope,  Va-inch,  feet 150 

Pitch,  pounds  ^^ 

Pick  and  handle  ^ 

Oakum,  pound^  ^^ 

If  one  is  not  going  to  build  a  boat,  tiio  oakum,  pitch 


1 


12 


CUIDK  TO  THK   KLONDIKE. 


and  tools  can  be  dispensed  with.  In  summer  a  sled  is  not 
necessary.  Those  going  on  a  steamer  by  way  of  St.  Mi- 
chaels are  recommended  to  take  plenty  of  delicacies,  costing 
little  but  greatly  appreciated.  Above  all,  the  caution  is 
given,  "take  plenty." 

Very  rarely  is  sui!icient  importance  attached  to  the 
medical  chest,  which  should  have  a  place  in  every  pros- 
pectors pack.  In  case  of  emergency,  drugs  and  appliances 
for  the  relief  of  ])ain  are  invaluable.  A  supply  of  citric 
acid  should  be  carried  for  the  relief  of  scurvy.  The  a-strinj:- 
ent  property  of  tlio  lime  or  lemon  is  due  to  this  acid.  A 
few  drops  mixed  with  water  and  sugar  makes  excellent  lem- 
onade. The  drug  store  can  furnish  saccharin  tablets  in 
place  of  sugar;  three-quarters  of  an  ounce  of  this  concen- 
trated sweet  is  equal  to  twenty-five  pounds  of  sugar.  It 
will  be  easily  seen  what  a  saving  this  would  effect.  One 
hundred  pounds  of  sugar  at  five  and  one-half  cents  per 
pound  would  be  five  dollars  and  fifty  cents.  Add  to  this 
twenty-two  cents  per  pound  for  packing  over  the  summit  at 
the  pass,  and  the  total  cost  is  twenty-seven  dollars  and  fifty 
cents,  besides  the  room  it  would  take.  Saccharin  costs  but 
one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  an  ounce,  and  three  ounces,  equal 
to  one  hundred  pounds  of  sugar,  would  cost  but  four  dol- 
lars and  fifty  cents,  the  cost  of  packing  being  nominal  for 
such  small  bulk. 

The  following  articles  would  each  be  found  of  use,  to 
be  purchased  in  quantities  according  to  the  judgment  of 
the  individual:  Liniment  for  sprains  and  cold  on  the 
lungs,  tincture  of  iron  to  enrich  the  blood,  extract  of  Ja- 
maica ginger,  laudanum,  vaseline,  carbolic  ointment,  salts, 
cough  tablets,  mustard  and  adhesive  plasters,  surgeon's  lint, 
bandages,  liver  pills,  powder  for  bleeding,  absorbent  cotton,, 
surgeon's  sponge,  needles  and  silk,  quinine  capsules  and 
toothache  drops. 

The  estimate  as  to  amount  of  clothing,  etc.,  requii\'d 


NECKSSARY   OUTFITS  AND  WHERE  TO  GET  THEM. 


73 


varies  considerably  with  different  men  and  is  largely  a 
matter  of  individual  opinion.  The  following  will  give  a 
fairly  accurate  idea  of  the  necessities  in  this  direction: 

Woolen  clothes — 1  suit. 

Boots  and  shoes — 1  pair  gum  boots,  1  pair  heavy  leather 
shoes. 

Snow-glasses. 

Tent,  10x12  feet. 

1  tarpaulin,  7x14  feet 

5  yards  mosquito  netting  for  each  man. 

3  suits  heavy  underwear. 

1  heavy  mackinaw  coat. 

2  pairs  heavy  mackinaw  pants. 
Vz  dozen  heavy  wool  socks. 

Vz  dozen  heavy  wool  mitts. 

2  heavy  overshirts. 

3  pairs  of  blankets. 

4  towels. 

4  pairs  of  overalls. 
Oilskin  No.  3. 

In  purchasing  an  outfit,  especially  the  clothing,  care 
should  be  taken  to  purchase  the  very  best.  The  difference 
in  price  between  good  and  poor  articles  is  a  small  matter, 
when  the  cost  and  labor  of  getting  an  outfit  into  the  Yukon 
country  is  considered.  The  best  is  necessary,  and  it  is  econ- 
omy to  purchase  it.  At  a  rough  estimate  such  an  outfit  of 
provisions  and  clothing  as  is  enumerated  above,  would  cost 
in  Seattle  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  to  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  dollars,  according  to  quality  of  goods. 

There  is  one  final  word,  and  this  an  important  word, 
about  outfitting.  The  peculiar  needs  of  the  miners  on  the 
Yukon,  both  as  to  supplies  and  clothing  and  also  as  to  the 
manner  of  packing  outfits  so  as  to  have  them  in  shape  to 
stand  tlio  rough  usage  which  they  will  encounter  on  the 
pack  trails  and  in  boats  was  not  learned  by  even  the  miners 
themsolvos  until  after  they  had  long  experience.      Seattle 


wm 


74 


GUIDE  TO  THK  KLONniKE. 


iiu'ivhants  liavo  luul  loni;-  ('.\i)L'rit'iu'o  in  eatoring  to  thia 
li-ado.  Of  the  iiicn  wlio  wore  in  the  Yukon  Country  at  the 
linio  tlu'  I'londyko  strike  was  made,  by  far  the  greater  niim- 
IxT  jxircJiased  tlieir  ^ll|)|»lies  in  this  city.  Tliose  who  came 
out  to  get  new  outlits  for  another  year  also  traded  exclu- 
sively in  Seattle.  JJefore  the  strike  on  the  Clondyke  was 
made  the  Yukon  trade  with  Seattle  had  grown  to  such 
projjortions  thai  {\w  recjuirenients  of  the  Yukon  miners 
and  ])rosi)eetors  were  thoroughly  uiuleistood.  Special  arti- 
cles of  I'iothmg,  man u fact u red  e.xnii'ssly  for  this  trade, 
were  kept  in  stock  here  in  all  the  clothing  stores;  and  the 
l)Utting  up  (>['  an  outlit  for  the  Y'ukon  was  a  mat- 
ter of  daily,  and  an  occasion  of  hourly,  occurrence,  in  all  of 
the  leading  groc«'ry  stores.  So  thoroughly  e(piipped  were 
Seattle  nu-rcliants  in  this  respect  that  when  the  Clondyke 
rush  cauM'  they  were  enabled,  without  replenishing  their 
stocks,  and  simply  by  adding  a  few  extra  men  to  their  forces 
for  a  few  days,  lo  thoroughly  ecpiip  twelve  hundred  men 
with  a  year's  supply  of  provisions  and  clothing,  thoroughly 
ada])ted  to  tiie  climate  into  wjiich  these  men  were  going, 
within  the  lii'st  two  weeks.  After  the  Clondvke  excite- 
ment  broke  out,  ami  at  the  eml  of  that  tinu\  as  their  tele- 
gra])hif  oi'ders  for  further  goods  commenced  to  be  filled, 
the  stocks  carried  were  heavier  than  when  the  first  rush 
commenced. 

Seattle  merchants  have  handled  this  trade  for  years,  and 
expect  to  retain  the  bulk  of  it  for  years  to  come.  No  busi- 
ness man  in  Seattle  could  alford  to  ]mt  up  a  bad  outfit.  A 
man's  life  might  depend  upcm  the  duiracter  of  the  pro- 
visions with  which  he  is  su])plied.  The  news  of  spoiled 
goods  among  any  outfit  sent  out  would  pass  from  mouth 
to  nu)nth  among  the  miners  of  the  Y'ukon,  and  their 
indignation  would  take  the  prompt  form  of  a  boycott  upon 
the  offending  tradesman.      Xeither  is  this  Yukon  trade  a 


NECKSSARY   OITFITS  AND  WHERR  TO  C.V.t  THEM. 


75 


matter  siini)ly  of  todny.  It  is  looked  ii|»(»ii  to  incroiiso  and 
develop  yenr  by  year;  and  to  he  a  iierniaiient  souico  of  trade 
to  be  carefully  luinsed  and  cultivated.  The  man  who  de- 
sires to  i}({\u\)  himself  with  an  outfit  for  the  Yukon  can  put 
himself  with  ])erfect  confidence  in  the  hands  of  the  leading; 
finus,  or,  indeetl,  in  any  one  of  a  dozen  or  more  houses  in 
Seattle,  and  leave  it  entirelv  to  their  discretion  as  to  the 
amount  and  character  of  the  outfit.  On  the  average,  prices 
in  Seattle  will  be  found  as  cheap  as  those  in  anv  city. 

For  })ackin^^  across  the  pa.«<s,  and  for  the  boat  voyage 
down  th(!  river,  it  is  nece.<sary  for  outfits  to  be  })Ut  up,  in 
the  iirst  i)lace,  in  convenient  form  for  i)ackin<i:,  either  by 
man  or  bv  horse;  and,  in  the  second  place,  that  thev  mav 
be  thoroughly  ])rotected  against  water  or  snow,  to  which 
they  most  certainly  will  be  e.\|)osed.  Tctrtions  of  an  outfit 
may  lay  for  days  in  a  snow  drift,  as,  indeed,  is  the  common 
and  almost  universal  occurrence  in  crossing  Chiikoot  or 
White  Pass  in  the  early  spring.  Flour,  sugar  and  the  like 
arc  conseipiently  jnit  up  by  Seattle  outfitters  in  oiled  bags, 
carefully  ])rotected,  however,  from  giving  off  any  unpleas- 
ant taste  to  the  enclosed  goods.  All  of  these  matters  as  to 
the  pro})er  handling  of  outfits  reouire  a  certain  amount  of 
experience  which  is  only  to  be  acquired  in  handling  this 
particular  trade.  As  a  iirst  and  last  word  of  advice,  every 
man  going  to  the  Yukon  by  the  way  of  Seattle  should  await 
until  his  arrival  here  before  buying  his  outlit.  lie  will  have 
no  occasion  to  regret  his  action  if  he  does  so. 

It  is  reasonably  certain  that,  as  far  as  going  to  estab- 
lished mining  centers  is  concerned,  the  year  1S*>8  will  be 
the  last  in  Mhich  it  will  be  necessary  for  a  visitor  to  the 
Yukon  or  an  immigrant  to  that  country  to  carry  in  his  own 
supplies.  Lines  will  be  established  in  numbers  on  the 
strength  of  the  heavy  increase  in  the  mining  population, 
and,  with  the  improved  transportation  facilities  now  as- 
sured, living  on  the  Yukcm  will,  after  next  year,  be  little 
more  expensive,  if  any,  than  in  any  mining  camp  uncon- 
nected by  rail  with  the  centers  of  trade  and  ])opulation. 


76 


GUIDE  TO  THB  Ki:,ONDIKE. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


CLIMATE  AND  AGRICULTURAL  POSSIBILITIES. 

The  term  "Arctic"  has  been  applied  to  the  climate  of 
the  Yukon  rather  inappropriately.  It  is  true  some  por- 
tions of  tlie  Yukon  basin  lie  within  the  Arctic  circle,  and 
that  the  best  kncAvn  gold  fields  whic)i  nave  as  yet  been  un- 
covered are  not  at  any  groat  distance  south  of  the  circle. 
It  should  be,  however,  remembered  tiiat  the  entire  gold  dis- 
trict of  ii\&  Yukon  lies  in  the  latitude  of  Noi-thf^rn  Central 
Russia.  A  glance  at  a  map  of  the  world  o/  glo)).>  I'scloses 
this.  It  should  further  be  remembrn'd,  as  )^.  poiuted  out  by 
Dr.  Dawson  in  his  report,  to  which  re  ference  i.as  ]\eretofore 
been  made,  that  the  climatic  conditions  on  wo.'.tem  and 
eastern  sides  of  the  continent  aie  by  no  means,  comparable, 
and  that  the  isothermal  lines  representing  the  n;6cn  annual 
temperature  trend  northwestward  from  the  Manitoba 
region.  According  to  the  same  authority,  the  climatic  con- 
ditions of  the  basin  of  the  Yukon  are  substantially  identical 
with  the  inland  provinces  of  Russian,  to  which  allusion  has 
already  been  made.  The  province  of  Vologda,  in  European 
Russia,  appears  to  offer  the  mean  parallel.  It  i.s  circum- 
stanced relatively  to  the  western  shores  of  Europe,  as  is  the 
Yukon  country  to  the  western  shores  of  the  North  Ameri- 
can continent.  Its  area  is  155,498  square  miles,  situated 
between  the  58th  and  G5th  parallel  of  latitude.  The  cli- 
mate in  both  cases  is  a  continental  one,  in  which  severe 
winters  alternate  with  warm  summers,  and  the  actual  de- 
grees of  boat  and  cold  are  not  dissimilar.  There  is  no  heavy 
rainfall  in  eitiier  region,  such  as  is  found  near  the  western 


CI^IMATE  AND  AGRICUIvTURAL  POSSIBILTIKS. 


77 


coasts  bordering  on  the  Atlantic  and  on  the  Pacific  respec- 
tively. The  agricultural  products  from  the  province  of 
Vologda  are  oats,  rye,  barley,  hemp,  flax  and  pulse.  The 
population  of  that  province  is  1,161,000. 

The  winter  season  on  the  Yukon  is  beyond  all  question 
long  and  severe.  As  early  as  August  severe  frosts  occur, 
and  the  actual  winter  usually  sets  in  the  latter  part  of 
September.  During  the  dead  of  winter,  along  in  Janu- 
ary, the  sun  is  above  the  horizon  for  only  two  hours  a  day. 
The  nights,  while  excessively  long,  are  not  dark.  The  dawn 
and  twilight  hours  are  long,  and  even  durinjj  the  middle  of 
the  night  in  clear  weather  the  stars  and  moon,  reflecting 
from  the  snow-covered  ground,  give  sufficient  light  to  en- 
able ordinary  outdoor  avocations  to  be  pursued,  when  the 
weather  otherwise  permits.  The  display  of  the  Aurora 
liorealis  is  frequent,  the  whole  heavens  being  lit  up.  While 
the  cold  is,  as  stated  above,  excessive,  so  far  as  the  readings 
of  the  thermometer  are  concerned,  it  is  not  felt  severely. 
The  entire  absence  of  humidity  in  the  air  renders  the  in- 
tense cold  easily  supportable  to  persons  warmly  clad.  The 
.ureatest  danger  incurred  is  that  of  having  ears  and  nose 
frost-bitten,  a  matter  of  common  occurrence,  as,  indeed,  it  is 
in  Kussia. 

The  summers,  while  short,  are  hot.  As  higli  as  100° 
Fahrenheit  lias  been  recorded  in  the  valley  of  the  Upper 
Yukon  in  the  neighboriiood  of  Forty-^Iile.  For  a  few  weeks 
during  the  summer  tliis  excessively  hot  weather  lasts,  and 
as  there  is  pretty  nearly  twenty-four  hours  of  sunsliine  in 
each  day,  vegetation  makes  wonderful  growth  during  iliat 
])eriod. 

It  will  not  be  ])retended  tliat  the  Yukon  will  ever  l)e  a 
farming  country,  but  it  has  possibilities  considerably  in  ad- 
vance of  wliat  it  has  been  credited  as  possessing.  There  is 
an  abundance  of  grass  during  the  summer  months,  which 


;i    a 


CLIMATK   AND  ACRICULTURAl,    I'OSSmil.ITl  KS. 


79 


•■J 

y. 


^ 

h 
M 


< 

Q 


can  be  and  is  cut  and  used  for  liay.  ^Ir.  Ogilvie,  Dominion 
land  surveyor,  in  a  report  dated  June  25,  189(5,  sav^. 
Horses  tliat  liave  been  in  use  here,  packing  to  tlie  mines  in 
summer  and  hauling  wood  in  the  winter,  for  several  years, 
are  still  serviceable,  notwithstanding  they  live  only  on  the 
coarse  grasses  of  the  country.  They  pack  200  pounds 
apiece  from  Forty-:Mile  River,  at  the  mouth  of  Moose  Creek, 
to  tiic  mines  on  Miller  Creek  (alumt  Yi\  or  18  miles),  and 
climb  some  very  steep,  long  hills  on  the  way,  taking  two 
days  with  loads  and  one  day  without;  all  they  g^X  to  eat  is 
what  they  find.  In  other  ro])orts  Mr.  Ogilvie  says:  *'I  made 
a  survey  of  another  island  for  a  man  named  Gibson.  This 
is  in  tlie  delta  of  Forty-]Mile  Creek,  and  he  intends  to  make 
a  ijiaiket  garden  for  the  growtii  of  such  vegetables  as  the 
country  will  ;.ro(iiice.  In  my  final  re})ort  I  will  deal  as  fully 
as  my  exjiericnce  hero  will  permit  on  (hat  ])hase  of  the  coun- 
try's character.  Many  here  have  small  gardens  and  are  fair- 
ly succ:  V  ''m1  with  ordinary  vegetables."  'J'his  was  under 
date  of  J'!!  e  ">,  LS'.H).  hater  in  the  same  month  he  records 
that  the  gardens  were  do'ug  well,  and  that  scnne  persons 
were  experimenting  with  fodder  ])lants.  From  all  this  it 
would  a|)|)('ar  that  where  suitable  soil  can  be  found  it  is 
quite  possible,  on  tlu^  N'ukon,  to  raise  the  ordinary  garden 
vegetables  which  are  of  (piick  growth  and  not  particularly 
susce|)tible  to  frost.  This  may  ultimattly  be  a  matter  of 
considerable  ini|)()rtance,  as  it  will  be  somi)  years,  and  trans- 
portation facililies  will  luive  to  be  vastly  improved,  bi'fore 
fresh  vegetables  can  be  taken  into  tlic  country  in  the  quan- 
tity needed. 

All  persons  going  in  to  the  mineral  district  of  the  Yu- 
kon w(uild  do  well  to  ])rovide  themselves  with  a  few  garden 
^k'<''(\^  of  (he  hardy  and  (|ui<'k-growing  varieties  of  vcgc- 
tabl(>s,  such  as  lettuce,  radishes,  ln-als.  turnips,  green  peas 
and  the  like.  The  ))roduce  woidd  be  worth,  literally,  their 
weight  in  gold,  if  not  for  sale,  to  the  grower  liims<'lf.  The 
])robabilities  are  strong  that  such  seeds  would  grow  and 
produce  eatable  vegetables  where  the  poli  is  good. 


6-S 


So 


GUIDK  TO  THE  KLONDIKE. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


GAME   AND   FISH. 

Game  is  far  less  abundant  than  it  was  before  mining  be- 
gan; and  it  is  diflieult,  in  fact  impossible,  to  get  any,  except 
ducks  and  geese,  close  to  the  river.  On  the  uplands,  fifteen 
or  twenty  miles  up  the  small  streams,  vast  herds  of  caribou 
used  to  wander,  but  they  are  becoming  scarcer  year  by  year. 
Moose,  which  were  very  numerous  along  the  river  a  few 
years  since,  are  now  seldom  seen  there.  According  to  Mr. 
Ogilvie,  there  are  two  species  of  caribou  in  the  country,  one 
the  ordinary  kind,  found  in  most  parts  of  the  Northwest 
and  said  to  much  resemble  the  reindeer;  the  other  called  the 
"wood  caribou,"  a  much  larger  and  more  beautiful  animal. 
Excepting  that  its  antlers  are  smaller,  it  closely  resembles 
the  elk.  The  ordinary  caribou  runs  in  herds,  often 
numbering  hundreds.  It  is  easily  approached,  and 
when  fired  at  jumps  around  awhile  as  though  unde- 
cided what  to  do;  it  then  runs  a  short  distance,  but 
as  likely  toward  the  hunter  as  from  him,  stops  again, 
and  so  on  for  a  number  of  times.  At  last,  after 
many  of  them  have  been  killed,  the  remainder  start 
on  a  continuous  run,  and  probably  do  not  stop  until  they 
have  covered  twenty  or  thirty  miles.  When  the  Indians 
find  a  herd  they  surround  it,  gradually  contracting  the 
circle  thus  formed,  when  the  animals,  being  too  timid  to 
escape  by  a  sudden  rush,  are  slaughtered  wholesale. 

There  are  four  species  of  bear  found  in  the  district — the 
grizzly,  brown,  black  and  a  small  kind,  called  by  the  miners 
the  "silver-tip,"  the  latter  being  gray  in  color,  with  a  white 
throat  and  beard,  hence  its  name.    It  is  said  to  be  very  fierce, 


game;  and  fish. 


Si 


and  Indians  and  white  men  both  give  them  a  wide  berth, 
unless  specially  well  armed.  Wolves  are  scarce;  a  few  only 
of  the  common  gray  ones  being  seen  in  the  country. 

The  common  rabbit  or  hare  is  in  some  seasons  quite 
plentiful;  at  other  seasons  they  are  rare.  The  Arctic  hare 
is  occasionally  seen. 

Mountain  sheep  and  mountain  goats  exist  through- 
out the  entire  section  of  the  country,  but,  as  they 
frequent  the  mountains,  they  are  seldom  seen  from  the  bank 
of  the  river.  Wild  geese  and  ducks  are  extremely  plentiful 
during  the  season.  A  shotgun  is  an  indispensible  article  of 
equipment  for  this  reason.  More  gane  will  be  secured  by 
it  than  by  the  rifle. 

Accounts  as  to  the  fishing  in  Alaska  differ  greatly.  Men 
who  have  passed  many  years  in  the  country  report  fish  as 
abundant  and  the  fishing  excellent.  Mr.  Ogilvie,  however, 
in  his  report  to  the  Dominion  government,  says  that  with 
the  exception  of  a  small  species,  locally  called  the  Arctic 
trout,  fish  are  not  numerous.  This  so-called  trout  seldom 
exceeds  ten  inches  in  length,  and  has  fins  very  large  for  its 
size,  which  give  it,  when  in  motion,  the  appearance  of  hav- 
ing wings.  Its  dorsal  fin  is  very  large,  being  fully  half  the 
length  of  the  body  and  very  high.  It  is  of  a  brownish  gray 
color  on  the  back  and  sides  and  lighter  on  the  belly.  It  is 
found  in  large  quantities  in  the  upper  part  of  the  river,  espe- 
cially where  the  current  is  swift,  and  takes  any  kind  of  bait 
greedily.  The  llesh  is  somewhat  soft  and  not  very  palatable. 
Lake  trout  are  caught  in  the  lakes.  They  take  a  troll  bait 
readily.  The  largest  will  weigh  six  or  seven  pounds.  Sal- 
mon ascend  the  river  as  high  as  Lake  Labarge,  but  arc  gen- 
erally in  poor  condition  when  they  reach  that  point.  Dur- 
ing the  season  of  1895  the  salmon  run  all  along  the  river 
was  light.  Indirectly  the  light  run  of  salmon  was  responsi- 
ble for  the  discovery  of  the  Klondike,  for  Cormack,  the 
first  discoverer  of  the  rich  deposits,  went  pros])ecting  up 
the  river  because  the  salmon  fishery,  in  which  he  was  en- 
gaged, proved  to  be  unprofitable. 


8a 


GUIDE  TO  THE   KLONDIKE. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


COAL   AND  QUARTZ. 

Both  coal  ami  quartz  ledges  have  been  discovered  on  the 
Upper  Yukon,  in  Northwest  Territory,  within  the  past  year, 
the  former  of  which  will  go  far  toward  settling  the  fuel 
problem  in  that  section,  while  the  latter  insures  a  perma- 
nent mining  population,  even  after  the  placers  are  ex- 
hausted, if  ev(?r.  In  regard  to  the  coal  discoveries,  Mr. 
Ogilvie's  report  reads  as  follows:  "A  couple  of  coal  claims 
have  been  staked  and  applied  for,  which  I  will  survey  in  the 
spring,  and  at  the  same  time  make  an  examination  of  the 
coal  area  where  they  are.  I  may  anticipate  this  to  a  certain 
extent  by  saying  that  a  few  days  after  I  reported  to  you  last 
fall  I  went  up  Coal  Creek  to  search  for  this  coal,  to  which 
I  referred  in  my  report  of  1887  and  1888.  I  found  it  about 
seven  miles  up  the  creek,  overlaying  a  coarse  sandstone  and 
under  drift  clay  and  gravel.  The  seam  is  12  feet  6  inches 
thick.  It  seems  to  me  to  be  of  a  good  quality  of  lignite.  I 
have  packed  out  thirty  or  forty  pounds  of  the  best  specimens 
I  found  a  few  feet  in  and  will  send  them  to  you  in  the  spring 
that  a  test  may  be  made.  That  exposure  has  now  been 
staked  and  ap])lied  for  to  the  agent  here.  Both  exposures 
furnisli,  so  far  as  external  features  show,  the  same  chai - 
acter  of  coal  and  are  about  the  same  level,  so  that  it  is  fair 
to  assume  that  they  are  the  same  seam.  I  will  make  a  search 
in  the  intervening  distance  to  determine  this  when  I  make 
a  survey  of  the  claims.  Coal  is  reported  in  the  drift  on 
Chandinn,  about  thirty  miles  up  the  river  from  here,  which, 
would  go  to  show  that  there  is  another  area  or  continuation 


COM,   AND  QUARTZ. 


83 


of  this  one  there."    This  report  was  under  date  of  January 
8,1896. 

In  a  later  report,  under  date  of  June  6,  Mr.  Ogilvio  re- 
cords other  discoveries  made.  An  expert  in  the  employ  of 
N.  A.  T.  &  T.  Co.  discovered  extensive  deposits  of  coal  on 
Twelve-Mile  Creek,  about  twenty  miles  above  its  mouth. 

Prospecting  for  quartz  has  never  been  carried  on  to  any 
extent,  or  in  fact  at  all,  until  within  the  last  two  years.  The 
recent  rich  discoveries  in  the  Klondike  will  serve  to  give 
an  impetus  to  prospecting  in  this  direction,  especially  since 
it  is  known  that  some  discoveries  of  good  gold-bearing 
quartz  have  been  made.  The  theory  still  finds  plenty  of 
adherents  among  mining  men  that  all  gold  found  in  river 
benches  and  bars  comes  from  quartz  ledges,  disintegrated 
by  weather  and  water,  and  the  gold  deposited,  nature  acting 
in  this  matt(!r  precisely  as  art  does  in  the  extraction  of  gold 
from  free-milling  ore.  I^*  this  theory  be  correct,  the  original 
ledge  from  which  the  gold  in  the  Klondike  came  would  be 
the  wonder  of  the  world  when  found.  So  far,  however,  the 
quartz  ledges  which  have  been  found  are  of  low  grade,  and 
require  capital  on  a  large  scale  to  be  enlisted  before  they 
can  be  profitably  worked.  The  mountains  which  hem  in 
the  valley  of  Sixty-Mile  Creek  are  composed  principally  of 
quartz  and  schists,  which  no  doubt  originally  held  the  gold 
found  in  the  valleys.  If  thoroughly  prospected,  as  undoubt- 
edly they  will  be  within  the  next  few  years,  some  wonderful 
discoveries  may  be  made. 

In  the  early  part  of  1896  the  most  important  quartz 
discovery  so  far  made  on  the  Yukon  was  struck  in  Cone 
hill,  which  stands  midway  in  the  valley  of  Forty-^nie  river, 
two  miles  above  its  junction  with  the  Yukon.  The  quantity 
in  sight  rivals  the  Treadwell,  and  the  quality  is  better,  so 
much  so  that  it  is  thought  it  will  paj  to  work,  even  at  the 
present  high  rate  of  wages.    The  whole  hill  is  of  metallifer- 


84  GUIDE  TO  THE   Kl,ONDlKB. 

ous  rock.  Assays  of  the  Cone  hill  quartz  are  reported  to  be 
good,  but  their  values  have  not  been  published.  Five  tone 
of  the  rock  have  been  shipped  out  for  a  mill  test. 

An  expert  in  the  employ  of  the  N.  A.  T.  &  T.  Co.  found 
a  ledge  of  gold-bearing  quartz  in  the  spring  of  1895  on 
Twelve-Mile  Creek,  about  two  miles  up,  and  located  two  full 
claims  on  it.  He  reported  to  Mr.  Ogilvie  that  the  assay  he 
had  made  of  the  specimens  of  it  was  much  more  satisfactory 
than  that  of  Cone  Hill,  and  that  on  this  ledge  was  where 
quartz  mining  should  commence  in  the  Yukon  country  with 
no  fears  of  the  result. 

Copper  has  been  found  near  Fort  Eeliance,  and  some 
specimens  of  native  copper  have  been  brought  in  from  the 
head  of  White  River,  near  the  international  boundary  line, 
but  on  which  side  is  not  yet  known.  Some  poor  specimens 
of  asbestos  has  been  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Cudahy, 
but  none  as  yet  of  commercial  value.  Sufficient  from  this, 
however,  appears  to  warrant  much  further  prospecting  for 
ledges  of  quartz. 


CANADIAN   GOVERNMENT'S  OPl'REvSSIVE   I'OMCY. 


85 


CHAPTER  X. 


CANADIAN   GOVERNMENT'5  OPPRESSIVE 

POLICY. 


rv^ 


The  Klondike,  Stewart  and  Indian  Rivers  and  their 
tributaries,  to  which  attention  is  now  being  so  largely  at- 
tracted, and  from  the    former   of    which  such  enormous 
amounts  of  gold  have  already  been  extracted  by  a  relatively 
small  number  of  men,  lie  wholly  within  British  territory, 
being  part  of  the  Northwest  Territory.       These  districts, 
as,  indeed,  all  of  the  other  mineral  districts  upon  the  Yu- 
kon, were  discovered  and  opened  to  the  world  almost  ex- 
clusively by  American  prospectore.    They  opened  the  passes, 
which  had  always  before  been  jealously  guarded  by  a  power- 
ful and  warlike  band  of  coast  Indians;  they  whipsawcd  lum- 
ber out  of  tlie  trees  and  built  boats,  or  lashed  logs  together 
in  rafts,  and,  launching  themselves  upon  the  waters  of  a 
practically  unknown  stream,  descended  it  for  hundreds  of 
miles,  and  ascended  hundreds  of  its  trilnitaries  for  a  dis- 
tance aggregating  thousands  of  miles.     Along  the  rapids 
and  canyons  of  the  Upper  Yukon  are  the  graves  of  dozens 
of  such  prospectors,  who  lost  their  lives  in  braving  the  un- 
known torrents.    Up  to  the  present  time  none  of  this  work 
of  exploration  has  been  aided  l)y  a  dollar  of  government 
money  from  any  source.    Nearly  a  decade  passed  in  this 
work  before  really  profitable  mines  were  discovered.     As 
soon  as  it  developed  that  in  this  unknown  wilderness  a 
handful  of  American  pioneers  liad  o|<ened  a  new  gold  region, 
the  Canadian  government  sent  in  surveyors  to  locate  the 
international  boundary  line.     It  proved  lliat  >ome  of  the 


86 


GUIDK  TO  THE   KtOXDIKK. 


claims  were  in  Canadian  territory.  Forthwith  a  detachment 
of  mounted  police  and  a  gold  conimisaioner  appeared  upon 
the  ground,  accompanied  hy  customs  oilieers.  Each  miner 
was  i)roini)tly  taxed  the  sum  of  lil'teen  dollars  as  a  fee  for 
his  license,  and  one  hundred  dollars  anmially  thereafter; 
while  the  customs  oilieers  proceeded  to  collect  duties  from 
the  goods  im|)orted  into  the  country  to  feed  the  mining 
])opulatiou.  This  was  naturally  to  be  expected,  and  no  com- 
l>laint  was  heard  from  the  miners. 

When  the  news  of  the  wonderfully  rich  discoveries  on 
the  Klondike  went  forth,  the  Dominion  govern nient  at 
once  proceeded  to  consider  measures  hy  which  some  con- 
siderable jiortion  of  the  wealth  which  the  miners  Wti'e  pro- 
ducing might  be  turiunl  into  the  Dominion  coll'ei's.  Vari- 
ous schemes  havt>  been  jjrojiosed.  The  one  which  has 
received  the  most  favorable  considci-ation,  and  which,  in- 
deed, it  has  lu'cn  announced  the  honiinion  cabinet  has  de- 
cided upon,  is  to  is>ue  orders  in  council  imposing  a  royalty 
of  ten  ])er  cent.  u|>on  the  gross  product  of  all  mining  claims 
which  i)roduce  live  hundred  dollars  ])er  montii  or  upwards, 
and  twenty  ])er  cent,  on  mines  whose  ])roduct  is  in  excess 
of  that  amount.  ^i'his  is  in  addition  to  the  $100  a  year 
license  fee.  It  is  also  ))ro])osed  to  reserve  eacli  alternate 
claim  to  the  government.  The  only  o))jections  which  the 
Canadian  government  are  considering  to  this  pro])osed  pol- 
icy is  the  extreme  diliiculty  to  b<'  found  in  collecting  the 
revenue,  and  in  learning  what  the  amount  of  product  of 
each  claim  might  be  without  a  resort  to  inquisitorial  meas- 
ures which  would  create  intense  friction.  The  question  at 
present  turns  whether  this  roy^ilty  shall  be  imposed  or 
whether  the  same  result  may  be  arrivt^d  at  by  the  imposition 
of  an  export  duty  on  gold. 

They  have  also  stationed  customs  officers  at  the  in- 
ternational boundary  line  to  collect  duty  from  all  Ameri- 


CANADIAN   C.OVKRNMKNT'S  OPI'RILSSIVK   POI.KY. 


«7 


can  miners  npon  their  personal  outfits  of  food  and  clothing, 
wliich  they  are  compelled  to  take  with  tliem  into  the  coun- 
try. As  long  as  the  American  exploration  of  the  country 
in  search  of  gold  brought  nothing  to  the  exi)lorers  except 
hardsiiip,  suH'ering  and  often  death,  the  country  was  freely 
o[)ened  to  them,  and  they  were  encouraged  to  do  a  work  of 
exploration  and  prosi)ccting,  which  will  directly  and  in- 
directly result  in  adding  countless  millions  of  dolhirs  in 
value  to  Canadian  territory,  and  which  will  result  in  the 
building  up  in  a  region  which  had  heretofore  ranked  as  a 
desolate  waste,  of  settled  communities,  witii  thousands  of 
inhabitants.  They  have  created  in  Canadian  territory,  or 
at  least  they  have  opened  to  the  world,  an  industry  which 
will  result  in  a  golden  stream  being  poured  out  to  the  world 
for  generations  to  come. 

This  work  of  exploration  and  exploitation  having  been 
successfully  accom])lishod;  the  eyes  of  the  world  having 
been  opened  to  the  riches  of  the  Yukon  ])ortion  of  the 
Xorthwest  Territory,  and  the  stream  of  immigration  having 
been  turned  that  way  in  such  a  resistless  volume  that  noth- 
ing can  arrest  its  onward  flow,  the  Canadian  government 
now  proceeds  to  ''cinch"  the  American  miners  and  pros- 
pectors in  a  manner  which  has  never  been  witnessed  in  a 
civilized  country.  The  Boers  of  South  Africa  did  not  en- 
courage English  miners  to  exploit  the  mineral  wealth  of  the 
Transvaal;  they  protested  against  it;  they  did  not  invite,  but 
endeavored  to  repel  the  immigration  which  resulted  in  un- 
veiling the  riches  of  South  Africa.  Yet  their  treatment  of 
the  British  miners  in  South  Africa  was  liberality  itself  as 
compared  to  the  manner  in  which  the  Canadian  govern- 
ment has  elected  to  treat  the  explorers,  prospectors  and 
miners  of  the  Xorthwest  Territory.  In  literal  sober  fact, 
without  the  faintest  exaggeration,  their  conduct  in  this  re- 
spect is  precisely  what  might  have  been  exi)ected  from  the 


^. 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-S) 


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Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  MY.  145*0 

K15^;.  a  72-4303 


6^ 


88 


GUIDE  TO  THE  KLONDIKE. 


wild  chief  of  a  South  African  negro  tribe,  who  had  force 
sufficient  to  carrj^  out  his  plans.  The  Canadians  plead  re- 
taliation as  a  possible  excuse  for  this  action.  They  claim 
that  the  laws  of  the  United  States  which  forbid  an  alien 
from  acquiring  title  to  mining  property  are  justification  for 
the  imposition  of  this  enormous  income  tax  upon  American 
miners  in  Canada.  If  retaliation  is  the  plea,  why  not  retali- 
ate in  kind,  by  excluding  American  miners  who  refuse  to 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  British  crown?  The 
answer  to  this  is  simple.  They  did  not  exclude  American 
miners  from  the  country,  for  the  good  and  sufficient  reason 
that,  had  this  been  done,  their  mineral  country  would  Jiever 
have  been  explored  and  opened  for  generations  to  come. 
They  preferred  to  encourage  the  Americans  to  invest  their 
brains,  their  capital  and  their  energies  in  opening  to 
the  world  the  Canadian  mines,  and  then  to  relieve 
them  of  a  heavy  percentage  of  their  hard-earned  wealth 
on  the  plea  of  retaliation  against  a  law,  which  in  prac- 
tical effect  never  excluded  a  British-born  subject  from 
the  ownership  of  a  foot  of  American  mineral  land; 
for  the  courts  were  always  opened,  and  the  naturalization 
oath  is  a  meaningless  form  to  many  who  have  sought  our 
shores,  and  to  none  more  than  those  who  claim  England  and 
Canada  as  their  native  homes. 


the;  AMERICAN   MINES. 


89 


CHAPTEK  XI. 


11- 


THE  AMERICAN  MINE5. 

Whilp  Klondike  is  now  engaging  the  attention  of  the 
majority  of  those  who  are  seeking  the  Yukon,  it  should  not 
be  forgotten  that  up  to  the  time  of  the  accidental  discovery 
of  the  Klondike  by  an  American  miner,  it  was  the  mines 
on  the  American  side  of  the  boundary  line  which  were  pro- 
ducing the  greatest  wealth.  On  the  upper  creeks  of  Sixty- 
Mile  and  Forty-Mile,  within  the  boundaries  of  Alaska,  are 
placer  mines  by  the  hundred,  which  in  any  other  country 
in  the  world  would  be  considered  as  fortunes  to  the  lucky 
owners.  Down  the  river  from  Dawson  City  240  miles,  ia 
Circle  City.  A  short  porage  from  the  Yukon  at  this  point 
will  bring  one  into  the  headwaters  of  Birch  Creek.  There 
are  dozens  of  tributary  streams  in  this  creek  from  which 
gold  has  been  extracted  in  large  quantities.  Hundreds  of 
claims  have  paid  as  high  as  $40  a  day  to  every  man  em- 
ployed; and  claims  which  ran  as  low  as  an  ounce  or  $16  a 
day  were  not  looked  at.  Far  down  the  Yukon,  the  Koya- 
kuk,  one  of  the  most  important  tributaries  of  the  lower 
river,  has  its  mouth.  On  this  stream,  for  some  years  past, 
the  Indians,  working  with  crude  rockers,  made  in  imitation 
of  those  used  by  the  white  men,  have  been  taking  out  ten 
to  fifteen  dollars  a  day  to  the  man.  Last  summer  a  small 
party  of  miners  from  Circle  City  went  down  to  prospect 
this  river.  When  returning  miners  from  the  Klondike  were 
passing  down  this  river  on  the  steamer  tliey  were  hailed 
from  the  bank  by  one  of  this  party,  who  wished  to  send  out 
mail.    lie  was  told  of  the  rich  strikes  on  the  Klondike,  and 


90 


GUIDE  TO  THP:   KI.ONDIKE. 


in  turn  told  of  equally  rich  strikes  made  by  his  party. 
There  is  no  improbability  about  this  story,  and  a  few  weeks' 
time  will  probably  prove  or  disprove  it.  Whether  this  par- 
ticular story  be  true  or  not,  it  is  absolutely  unquestioned 
that  there  are  on  the  American  side  of  the  international 
boundary  thousands  of  claims  on  which  good  wages  can  be 
made,  and  hundreds  are  known  which  in  a  very  few  years' 
working  would  yield  fortunes  to  their  owners. 

The  writer  stated  in  a  preceding  paragraph  that  the 
upper  creeks  of  Forty-Mile  were  in  American  territory.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  there  is  a  strong  probability  that  the  entire 
creek,  from  its  mouth  up,  is  American.  Only  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  mouth  up  is  claimed  by  the  Canadian  au- 
thorities to  be  within  their  borders. 

A  recent  report  of  the  United  States  surveyors  as  to  the 
boundary  line  in  this  connection  said:  "In  substance  these 
determinations  throw  the  diggings  at  the  mouth  of  Forty- 
Mile  Creek  within  the  territory  of  the  United  States.  The 
whole  valley  of  tliis  rich  creek  is  also  in  the  United  States. 
Most  of  the  gold  is  to  the  west  of  the  crossing  of  the  one 
hundred  and  forty-first  meridian  at  Forty-Mile  Creek.  If 
M'e  produce  the  one  hundred  and  forty-first  meridian  on  a 
chart,  the  mouth  of  Miller's  Creek,  a  tributary  of  Sixty-Mile 
Creek,  and  a  valuable  gold  region,  is  five  miles  in  a  direct 
line,  or  seven  miles  according  to  the  winding  of  the  stream, 
all  within  the  territory  of  the  United  States.  In  substance, 
the  only  places  in  the  Yukon  region  where  gold  in  quantity 
has  been  found  are  all  to  the  west  of  the  boundary  line  be- 
tween Canada  and  the  United  States." 

"The  gold,"  said  General  Duflfield,  Superintendent  of 
the  United  States  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  in  discussing 
the  question,  "has  been  ground  out  of  the  quartz  by  the 
pressure  of  the  glaciers  which  lie  and  move  along  the 
courses  of  the  streams,  exerting  a  tremendous  pressure. 


THE   AMERICAN   MINKS. 


91 


The  force  is  present  to  a  more  appreciable  extent  in  Alaska 
than  elsewhere,  and  I  believe  that,  as  a  consequence,  more 
placer  gold  will  be  found  in  that  region  than  in  any  other 
part  of  the  world.'' 

General  Duffield  thinks  the  hunters  on  the  American 
side  have  made  the  mistake  of  prospecting  the  large  streams 
instead  of  the  small  ones.  "When  gold  is  precipitated," 
he  said,  "it  sinks.  It  does  not  float  fax-  down  stream.  It  is 
therefore  to  be  looked  for  along  the  small  creeks  and  about 
the  headwaters  of  the  larger  tributaries  of  the  Yukon. 
There  is  no  reason  why  as  rich  finds  may  not  be  made  on  the 
American  side  of  the  line  as  in  the  Klondike  region." 

Again,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  value  of  a  placer 
claim  depends  to  a  great  extent  upon  the  number  of  men 
who  can  profitably  be  put  to  work  upon  it.  The  gross  tax 
levied  by  the  Canadian  government  upon  the  products  of 
Canadian  placers  will  render  it  unprofitable  to  employ  men 
upon  any  except  the  richest  of  the  mines.  For  example,  a 
claim  which  paid  twenty  dollars  a  day  to  the  man  would 
produce,  worked  by  one  man,  enough  to  render  its  owner 
liable  to  the  twenty  per  cent  penalty.  For  every  man  he 
employed  he  would  be  compelled  to  pay  to  the  government 
a  monthly  tax  of  one  hundred  and  four  dollars,  in  addition 
to  wages.  With  wages  at  fifteen  dollars  a  day,  the  net  result 
to  the  owner  of  a  Canadian  claim  paying  twenty  dollare  a 
day  to  the  man  would  be  just  ten  dollars;  in  other  words, 
the  claim  would  be  unprofitable  to  work  except  alone  and 
single-handed,  until  at  least  wages  reach  a  very  much  lower 
level.  On  the  American  side  of  the  line  claims  of  the  same 
class,  at  the  same  rate  of  wages,  would  net  to  the  owner  $130 
a  month  for  every  man  employed.  Claims  producing  less 
than  $20  a  day  on  the  Canadian  side  of  tlie  lino  will  be 
practically  valueless  for  many  years  to  come.  Xot  only 
this,  but  in  other  respects  the  American  mining  laws  are 


92 


GUIDB  TO  THE   KI^ONDIKE. 


more  liberal.  In  Northwest  Territory  claims  are  limited  to 
five  hundred  feet  in  length.  A  license  fee  of  fifteen  dollars 
a  year  is  imposed  for  the  first  year  and  after  that  a  fee  of 
one  hundred  dollars  a  year.  Neither  has  a  miner  any  vested 
interest  in  the  mine.  He  simply  has  a  license  from  the 
government  which  is  good  for  but  one  year.  After  the  year 
runs  on  it  will  have  to  be  renewed.  In  the  meantime  addi- 
tional restrictions  such  as  those  recently  imposed,  may  be 
put  on  at  any  time.  The  royalty  may  be  doubled,  or  the 
license  fee  raised  to  five  hundred  dollars  a  month,  in  par- 
ticularly rich  districts.  There  is  absolutely  no  security  for 
capital  or  labor  invested  in  any  placer  mining  proposition 
in  the  Northwest  Territory  for  any  longer  period  of  time 
than  one  year  from  the  date  of  the  original  location. 

On  the  American  side  of  the  line  the  general  mining 
laws  of  the  United  States  are  in  force.  These  permit  the 
entry  of  twenty  acres  of  land  except  in  cases  where  the 
miners  of  a  district,  by  adoption  of  local  regulations  of  their 
own,  limit  the  amount  of  the  claim.  The  only  expense  or 
tax  connected  with  it  is  the  payment  of  a  recording  fee,  the 
amount  fixed  by  the  miners  themselves,  to  the  recorder  of 
the  district  elected  by  themselves.  Subject  to  further  local 
regulations  prescribed  by  the  miners  of  a  district,  a  man's 
right  to  a  claim  attaches  the  instant  he  files,  and  no  law  of 
the  United  States  could  ever  be  passed  to  divest  him  of  that 
right,  or  to  impose  further  restrictions  upon  him  than  were 
contained  in  the  law  at  the  time  he  filed.  Should  he  desire 
to  do  so,  he  can,  after  expending  five  hundred  dollars'  worth 
of  work  on  a  claim,  have  it  surveyed  and  can  receive  a  patent 
from  the  United  States  to  it.  No  license  fees  are  extorted 
from  him;  the  claim  is  his,  and  no  royalty  is  or  ever  can  be 
imposed  upon  the  gold  which  he  takes  out. 

It  would  seem  clear  that  in  the  present  rush  to  the 
Yukon  gold  fields,  men  who  really  desire  to  acquire  placer 


THE   AMERICAN   MINEvS. 


93 


mining  property  for  their  own  use  and  benefit,  and  not  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Canadian  Government,  will  exercise  a  wise 
discretion  if  they  confine  their  prospecting  and  locating  to 
the  American  side  of  the  international  boundary,  where 
there  are  placers  rich  enough  to  satisfy  any  moderate  ambi- 
tion, and  where  there  may  be  new  Klondikes  discovered  any 
day  which  will  rival  or  surpass  the  discoveries  made  in 
Northwest  Territory  last  year. 


94 


r.UIDE  To  THE   KLONDIKE. 


CHAPTEE   XII. 


THE  DISEASES  TO   BE   GUARDED   AGAINST. 

As  a  final  word  to  those  who  have  made  up  their  minds 
to  sojourn  for  a  few  years  on  the  Yukon,  in  the  hope  of 
acquiring  wealth,  some  information  about  the  diseases 
which  are  prevalent  in  the  country  and  against  which  pre- 
cautions will  have  to  be  taken  may  not  be  amiss.  This 
information  is  contained  in  the  report  of  Assistant  Surgeon 
A.  E.  Wills,  who  was  stationed  at  Fort  Cudahy,  with  the 
detachment  of  Canadian  mounted  police.  The  climate  in 
summer  is  wet.  The  rainfall  last  summer  (1895)  was  heavy. 
Although  there  is  almost  continuous  sunlight  during  the 
summer,  evaporation  is  very  slow,  owing  to  the  thick  moss, 
which  will  not  conduct  heat,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
ground  is  always  swampy.  It  is  only  after  several  years  of 
draining  that  the  ground  will  become  sufficiently  dry  to 
allow  the  frost  to  go  out,  and  then  only  for  a  few  feet.  Dur- 
ing the  winter  months  the  cold  is  intense,  with  usually  con- 
siderable wind.  A  heavy  mist  rising  from  open  places  in 
the  river  settles  down  in  some  of  the  valleys  in  calm,  ex- 
tremely cold  weather.  This  dampness  makes  the  cold  felt 
much  more  and  is  conducive  to  rheumatic  pains,  colds,  etc. 

Miners  are  a  very  mixed  class  of  people.  They  represent 
many  nationalities  and  come  from  all  climates.  Their  lives 
are  certainly  not  enviable.  The  regulation  "miner's  cabin" 
is  twelve  by  fourteen  feet,  with  walls  six  feet  and  gables 
eight  feet  in  height.  The  roof  is  heavily  earthed  and  the 
cabin  is  generally  very  warm.  Two  and  sometimes  three 
or  four  men  will  occupy  a  house  of  this  size.     The  ventila- 


THE   DISKASKS  TO   UK  OlARDKn   AGAINST. 


95 


tion  is  usually  bad.  The  minors  who  do  not  work  their 
claims  during  the  winter  confine  tliemselvcs  in  these  small 
huts  most  of  the  time. 

Very  often  they  become  indolent  and  careless,  only  eat- 
ing those  things  which  are  most  easily  cooked  or  prei)ar{Hl. 
During  the  busy  time  in  summer  when  they  are  ''shoveling 
in,"  they  work  hard  and  for  long  hours,  sparing  littk?  time 
for  eating  and  still  less  for  cooking.  This  manner  of  living 
is  quite  common  among  beginners,  and  soon  leads  to  debility 
and  sometimes  to  scurvy.  Old  miners  have  learned  from 
experience  to  value  health  more  than  gold  and  they  there- 
fore spare  no  expense  in  procuring  the  best  and  most  varied 
outfit  of  food  that  can  be  obtained.  In  a  cold  climate  such 
as  this,  where  it  is  impossible  to  get  fresh  vegetables  and 
fruits,  it  is  most  important  that  the  best  substitutes  for  these 
should  be  provided.  Nature  helps  to  supply  these  wants  by 
growing  cranberries  and  other  wild  fruits  in  abundance, 
but  men  in  summer  are  too  busy  to  avail  themselves  of  these. 

The  diseases  met  with  in  the  country  are  dyspepsia, 
anaemia,  scurvy,  caused  by  improperly  cooked  food,  same- 
ness of  diet,  overwork,  want  of  fresh  vegetables,  overheated 
and  badly  ventilated  houses;  rheumatsm,  pneumonia,  bron- 
chitis, enteritis,  cystitis  and  other  acute  diseases  from  ex- 
posure and  wet;  debility  and  chronic  diseases,  due  to  ex- 
cesses. Venereal  diseases  are  not  uncommon.  One  case  of 
typhoid  fever  occurred  at  Forty-Mile  last  fall,  probably  due 
to  drinking  water  polluted  with  decayed  vegetable  matter. 

Men  who  intend  to  go  to  the  Yukon  gold  country  should 
be  sober,  strong  and  healthy.  They  should  be  practical 
men,  able  to  adapt  themselves  to  their  surroundings.  Spe- 
cial care  should  be  taken  to  see  that  their  lungs  are  sound, 
that  they  are  free  from  rheumatism  and  rheumatic  tenden- 
cies, and  that  their  joints,  especially  their  knee  joints,  are 
sound  and  have  never  been  weakened  by  injury  or  disease. 


7-S 


95 


GUIDK  TO  THK   KI^ONDIKE. 


It  is  also  important  to  consider  the  temper.  Men  should 
be  of  cheerful,  hopeful  dispositions  and  willing  to  work. 
Those  of  sullen,  morose  natures,  although  they  may  be  good 
miners,  arc  very  apt,  as  soon  as  the  novelty  of  the  country 
wears  off,  to  become  dissatisfied,  pessimistic  and  melancholy. 


COIS^CLUSION. 

Seattle  bankers  and  merchants  are  prepared  to  buy  all 
the  gold  which  comes  down  from  the  mines  at  its  actual 
mint  value.  Some  of  the  banks  have  already  procured 
the  services  of  expert  assay ers,  so  that  this  value  may  be 
determined.  A  strong  effort  is  on  foot  to  have  a  govern- 
ment assay  office  established  in  this  city.  If  this  is  done, 
as  there  seems  every  reason  to  believe  will  be  done  at  the 
next  session  of  congress,  every  dollar  of  the  gold  which 
comes  out  from  the  Klondike  next  season,  and  which 
reaches  Seattle  by  the  transportation  lines,  will  be  pur- 
chased in  this  city.  All  of  this  gold,  with  the  exception  of 
unimportant  amounts,  will  come  down  the  Yukon,  and  out 
by  the  way  of  St.  Michael's.  Whatever  the  route  for  going 
into  the  mining  country  may  be,  the  "all-watei-"  route  is 
the  one  wixich  miners  with  gold  will  adopt  in  leaving  the 
country. 


APPENDIX. 


97 


APPENDIX. 


TABLE    OF   DISTANCES. 


VIA  CHILKOOT  PASS. 

Miles. 

Seattle  to  Dyea  884 

Dyea  to  Foot  of  Canyon 7 

Canyon  to  Sheep  Camp 5 

Sheep  Camp  to  Summit 3 

Summit  to  Lake  Lindeman 9 

Lake  Lindeman  (length) 6 

Portage  to  Lake  Bennett 1 

Lake  Bennett  (length)   25.8 

Cariboo  Crossing  to  Lake  Tagish  2.7 

VIA   WHITE'S    PASS. 

Seattle  to  Skaguay 884 

Dyea  to  Tako  Arm 35 

Tako  Arm  to  Lake  Tagish 20 

Tagish  Lake  (length)   16.6 

River  to  Lake  Marsh 5 

Lake  Marsh  (length)  20 

Head  of  Lake  Marsh  to  Miles  Canyon 23 

Miles  Canyon  to  White  Horse  Rapids ^V* 

White  Horse  Rapids  % 

Foot  of  White  Horse  Rapids  to  Tahkeena  River 13 

Tahkeena  River  to  Lake  Le  Barge HV^ 

Lake  Le  Barge  (length)  31 

Lake  Le  Barge  to  Hootalinqua  River 27i^ 

Hootalinqua  River  to  Big  Salmon  River 

Big  Salmon  River  to  Little  Salmon  River 

Little  Salmon  River  to  Five  Fingers 

Five  Fingers  to  Pelly  River 

Pelly  River  to  White  River 

White  River  to  Stewart  River  


31 
34 
53 
55 
9 
9 


98 


OUIDK  To  THE  KI.ONDIKK. 


Miles. 

Stewart  River  to  Sixty-Mile  River 21 

Sixty-Mile  River  to  Dawson  City 49 

Dawson  City  to  Forty-Mile 52 

Forty-Mile  to  Fort  Cudahy % 

Fort  Cudahy  to  Circle  City  240 

Total  Dyea  to  Circle  City  via  Chilkoot  Pass 762.6 

Total  Skaguay  to  Circle  City  via  White's  Pass 759.1 

VIA  ST.   MICHAEL'S   AND  YUKON   RIVER. 

Seattle  to  St.  Michael's 3000 

St.  Michael's  to  Kutlik  100 

Kutlik  to  Andreafski   125 

Andreasfki  to  Holy  Cross 145 

Holy  Cross  to  Koserefsky 5 

Koserefsky  to  Anvik 75 

Anvik  to  Nulato  225 

Nulato  to  Narikatat  145 

Narikatat  to  Janana  80 

Janana  to  Fort  Yukon  ,  450 

Fort  Yukon  to  Circle  City 80 

Circle  City  to  Forty-Mile 240 

Forty-Mile  to  Dawson  City 52 


USEFUL  NOTES  FOR  MINERS. 

Gold  and  silver  are  bought  and  sold  by  Troy  weight:  24 
grains  1  pennyweight,  20  pennyweights  1  ounce,  12  ounces  1 
pound. 

The  price  established  by  the  United  States  government  for 
pure  gold  is  $20.67  per  ounce.  That  is  for  gold  1,000  fine  or  24 
karats. 

The  term  karat  is  used  by  jewelers  to  express  the  degrees 
of  fineness  of  gold,  dividing  it  into  24  degrees  or  karats. 

Pure  gold  is  24  karats  fine  and  worth  $20.67  per  ounce. 
22  karat  gold..$18.94    16  karat  gold..$13.78       10  karat  gold..$8.61 
20      "       "    ..  17.22     14      '•       "    ..  12.05  8      "        "    ..  6.89 

18      "       "   ..  15.50     12      "       "    ..  10.33%       6      "       "   ..  6.16 


APPENDIX. 


99 


Gold  in  jewelry  is  seldom  less  than  6  karats  fine 


Per  oz. 
Gold  1000  fine  is  worth  ?20.67. 

Gold   900 18.60 

Gold    800 16.53 

Gold    700 14.47 

Gold    600    "    "        "         12.40 


Per  oz. 
Gold  500  fine  is  worth  $10.33 

Gold  400 8.26 

Gold  300    "     •*        "         6.20 

Gold  200 4.13 

Gold  100    "    "        "         2.06 


Many  persons  are  mistaken  in  thinking  all  ounces  to  be 
alike.  An  ounce  Troy  or  Apothecaries'  weight  contains  480  Troy 
grains.  An  ounce  Avoirdupois  weight  contains  437i/^  Troy 
grains. 

The  grain  is  the  unit  of  Troy  and  Apothecaries'  weight, 
and  the  ounce  is  the  unit  of  the  Avoirdupois  weight. 

One  pound  Troy  or  Apothecaries'  weight  contains  5,760 
Troy  grains.  One  pound  Avoirdupois  weight  cuxilains  7,000 
Troy  Grains. 

All  natural  gold— that  is,  gold  extracted  fron  rocks  or 
washed  from  the  beds  of  streams— contains  sor* '  alloy ,  gener- 
ally silver,  but  sometimes  platinum,  copper  and  telluriam,  and 
it  varies  in  amount  in  different  localities.  This  if  tht.  reason 
some  liuaers  are  disappointed  when  they  sell  their  gold,  as  they 
imagine  all  gold  to  be  pure. 


SEATTLE  PRICE  LIST. 

Following  are  the  retail  market  prices  in  Seattle  on  August, 
5,  1897,  for  the  provisions  and  hardware  which  go  to  make  up 
a  Yukon  miner's  outfit: 

Flour,  per  sack  of  50  pounds,  ?1.10. 

Bacon,  S^^c  to  ll%c  per  pound. 

Beans,  2c  per  pound. 

Rolled  oats,  3c  to  3i^c  per  pound. 

Tea,  25e  to  $1.00  per  pound  (sealed  in  cans). 

Coffee,  15c  to  35c  per  pound  (sealed  in  cans). 

Sugar,  5^^c  per  pound. 

Evaporated  potatoes,  20c  per  pound. 

Evaporated  onions,  50c  per  pound. 

Salt,  Ic. 

Pepper,  25c. 

Evaporated  fruits,  8c  to  10c. 

Rice,  5c,  best  quality. 


^lia-:^^J:.£^feaMgKBir,  . 


lOO 


GUIDE  TO  THE  KLONDIKE. 


HARDWARE. 

Yukon  stove,  $6.50. 

Gold  pan,  35c  to  50c. 

Axes,  handled,  lpl.25. 

6-inch  files,  10c. 

Picks  with  handle,  ?1.25  to  $2.25. 

Shovel,  $1.00. 

Drawing  knife,  60c  to  $1.00. 

Jackpiane,  75c. 

Hammer,  50c. 

Whipsaw,  $4.50  to  $6.00. 

Nails,  4c  per  pound. 

Yukon  sleds,  $6.00. 


PLACER  MINING  REGULATIONS  IN  FORCE  ON  THE  YU- 
KON RIVER  AND  ITS  TRIBUTARIES  IN 
NORTHWEST  TERRITORIES. 

The  following  are  the  placer  mining  regulations  which  ap- 
ply to  the  Clondyke  and  other  mining  districts  on  the  Canadian 
side  of  the  line: 

NATURE  AND  SIZE  OF  CLAIMS. 

1.  Bar  diggings,  a  strip  of  land  100  feet  wide  at  higii- 
water  mark  and  thence  extending  into  the  river  to  its  lowest 
water  level. 

2.  The  sides  of  a  claim  for  bar  diggings  shall  be  two 
parallel  lines  run  as  nearly  as  possible  at  right  angles  to  the 
stream  anu  shall  be  marked  by  four  legal  posts,  one  at  each 
end  of  the  claim,  at  or  about  high- water  mark;  also  one  at 
tj&ch.  end  of  the  claim  at  or  about  the  edge  of  the  water.  One 
of  the  posts  at  high-water  mark  shall  be  legibly  marked  witli 
the  name  of  the  miner  and  the  date  upon  which  the  clafm  waa 
staked. 

3.  Dry  diggings  shall  be  100  feet  square,  and  shall  have 
placed  at  each  of  its  four  corners  a  legal  post,  upon  one  of 
which  shall  be  legibly  marked  the  name  of  the  miner  and  the 
date  upon  which  the  claim  was  staged. 

4.  Creek  and  river  claims  shall  be  500  feet  long  measured 
in  the  direction  of  the  general  course  of  the  stream,  and  shall 


APPENDIX 


lOI 


extend  in  width  from  base  to  base  of  the  hill  or  bench  on  each 
side,  but  when  the  hills  or  benches  are  less  than  100  feet  apart 
the  claim  may  be  100  feet  in  depth.  The  sides  of  a  claim  shall 
be  two  parallel  lines  run  as  nearly  as  possible  at  right  angles 
to  the  stream.  The  sides  shall  be  marked  with  legal  posts 
at  or  about  the  edge  of  the  water  and  at  the  rear  boundaries  of 
the  claim.  One  of  the  legal  posts  at  the  stream  shall  be  legibly 
marked  with  the  name  of  the  miner  and  the  date  upon  which 
the  claim  was  staked. 

5.  Bench  claims  shall  be  100  feet  square. 

6.  In  defining  the  size  of  claims  they  shall  be  measured 

horizontally,  irrespective  of  inequalities  on  the  surface  of  the 
ground. 

7.  If  any  person  or  persons  shall  discover  a  new  mine,  and 
such  discovery  shall  be  established  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
gold  commissioner,  a  claim  for  bar  diggings  750  feet  in  length 
may  be  granted.  A  new  stratum  or  auriferous  earth  or  gravel 
situated  in  a  locality  where  the  claims  are  abandoned  shall  for 
this  purpose  be  deemed  a  new  mine,  although  the  same  locality 
shall  have  been  previously  worked  at  a  different  level. 

8.  The  forms  of  application  for  a  grant  for  placer  mining 
and  the  grant  of  the  same  shall  be  those  contained  in  forms 
"H"  and  "I"  in  the  schedule  hereto. 

9.  A  claim  shall  be  recorded  with  the  gold  commissioner 
in  whose  district  it  is  situated  within  three  days  after  the  loca- 
tion thereof,  if  it  is  located  within  ten  miles  of  the  commission- 
er's office.  One  extra  day  shall  be  allowed  for  making  such 
record  for  every  additional  ten  miles  or  fraction  thereof. 

10.  In  the  event  of  the  absence  of  the  gold  commissioner 
from  his  office,  entry  for  a  claim  may  be  granted  by  any  person 
whom  he  may  appoint  to  perform  his  duties  in  his  absence. 

11.  Entry  shallnot  be  granted  for  a  claim  which  has  not 
been  staked  by  the  applicant  in  person  in  the  manner  specified 
in  these  regu^.^'ons.  An  affidavit  that  the  claim  was  staked 
out  by  the  applicant  shall  be  embodied  in  form  "H"  of  the 
schedule  hereto. 

12.  An  entry  fee  of  $15.00  shall  be  charged  for  the  first  year 
and  an  annual  fee  of  $100.00  for  each  of  the  following  years. 
This  provision  shall  apply  to  locations  for  which  entries  have 
already  been  granted. 

13.  After  the  recording  of  a  claim  the  removal  of  any  post 


I02 


GUIDE  TO  THE  KLONDIKE. 


by  the  holder  thereof  or  by  any  person  acting  in  his  behalf 
for  the  purpose  of  changing  the  boundaries  of  his  claim  shall 
act  as  a  forfeiture  of  the  claim. 

14.  The  entry  of  every  holder  for  a  grant  for  placer  mining 
must  be  renewed  and  his  receipt  relinquished  and  replaced 
every  year.      The  entry  fee  being  paid  each  year. 

15.  No  miner  shall  receive  a  grant  for  more  than  one  min- 
ing claim  in  the  same  locality,  but  the  same  miner  may  hold 
any  number  of  claims  by  purchase,  and  any  number  of  miners 
may  unite  to  work  their  claims  in  common  upon  such  terms  as 
they  may  arrange,  provided  such  agreement  be  registered  with 
the  gold  commissioner  and  a  fee  of  $5.00  paid  for  each  regis- 
tration. 

16.  Any  miner  or  miners  may  sell,  mortgage  or  dispose 
of  his  or  their  claims,  provided  such  disposal  be  registered  with 
a  fee  of  $2.00  paid  to  the  gold  commissioner,  who  shall  there- 
upon give  the  assignee  a  certificate  in  form  "J"  in  the  schedule 
hereto. 

17.  Every  miner  shall  during  the  continuance  of  his  grant 
have  the  exclusive  right  of  entry  upon  his  own  claim,  for  the 
miner-like  working  thereof,  and  the  construction  of  a  residence 
thereon,  and  shall  be  entitled  exclusively  to  all  the  proceeds 
realized  therefrom;  but  he  shall  have  no  surface  rights  therein; 
and  the  gold  commissioner  may  grant  to  the  holders  of  adjacent 
claims  such  right  of  entry  thereon  as  may  be  absolutely  necesr 
sary  for  the  working  of  their  claims,  upon  such  terms  as  may 
to  him  seem  reasonable.  He  may  also  grant  permits  to  miners 
to  cut  timber  thereon  for  their  own  use,  upon  payment  of  the 
dues  prescribed  by  the  regulations  in  that  behalf. 

18.  Every  miner  shall  be  entitled  to  the  use  of  so  much 
of  the  water  naturally  flowing  through  or  pae*^.  his  claim,  and 
not  already  lawfully  appropriated,  as  shall,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  gold  commissioner  be  necessary  for  the  due  working  there- 
of; and  shall  be  entitled  to  drain  his  own  claim  free  of  charge. 

19.  A  claim  shall  be  deemed  to  be  abandoned  and  open 
to  occupa^^'on  and  entry  by  any  person  when  the  same  shall 
have  remained  unworked  on  working  days  by  the  grantee  there- 
of or  by  some  person  on  his  behalf  for  the  space  of  seventy-two 
hours,  unless  sickness  or  other  reasonable  cause  be  shown  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  gold  commissioner,  or  unless  the  grantee 


APPENDIX. 


103 


is  absent  on  leave  given  by  the  commissioner,  and  the  gold 
commissioner,  upon  obtaining  evidence  satisfactory  to  himself 
that  this  provision  i°  not  being  complied  with,  may  cancel  the 
entry  given  for  claim. 

20.  If  the  land  upon  which  a  claim  has  been  located  is 
not  the  property  of  the  crown,  it  will  be  necessary  for  the 
person  who  applied  for  entry  to  furnish  proof  that  he  has  ac- 
quired from  the  owner  of  the  land  the  surface  rights  before 
entry  can  be  granted. 

21.  If  the  occupier  of  the  lands  has  not  received  a  patent 
therefor,  the  purchase  money  of  the  surface  rights  must  be  paid 
to  the  crown,  and  a  patent  of  the  surface  rights  will  issue  to 
the  party  who  acquired  the  mining  rights.  The  money  so  col- 
lected will  either  be  refunded  to  the  occupier  of  the  land,  when 
he  is  entitled  to  a  patent  therefor,  or  will  be  credited  to  him  on 
account  of  payment  for  land. 

22.  When  the  party  obtaining  the  mining  rights  to  lands 
cannot  make  an  arrangement  with  the  owner  thereof  for  the 
acquisition  of  the  surface  rights,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  him  to 
give  notice  to  the  owner  or  his  agent  or  the  occupier  to  appoint 
an  arbitrator  to  act  with  another  arbitrator  named  by  him,  in 
order  to  award  the  amount  of  compensation  to  which  the  owner 
or  occupant  shall  be  entitled.  The  notice  mentioned  in  this 
section  shall  be  according  to  form  to  be  obtained  upon  applica- 
tion from  the  gold  commissioner  for  the  district  in  which  the 
lands  in  question  lie,  and  shall,  when  practicable,  be  personally 
served  on  such  owner,  or  his  agent,  if  known,  or  occupant; 
and  after  reasonable  efforts  have  been  made  to  effect  personal 
service  without  success,  then  such  notice  shall  be  served  by 
leaving  it  at,  or  sending  by  registered  letter  to,  the  last  place 
of  abode  of  the  owner,  agent  or  occupant.  Such  notice  shall 
be  served  upon  the  owner,  or  agent,  within  a  period  to  be  fixed 
by  the  gold  commissioner  before  the  expiration  of  the  time 
limited  in  such  notice.  If  the  proprietor  refuses  or  declines 
to  appoint  an  arbitrator,  or  when,  for  any  other  reason,  no 
Arbitrator  is  appointed  by  the  proprietor  in  the  time  limited 
therefor  in  the  notice  provided  for  by  this  section,  the  gold 
commissioner  for  the  district  in  which  the  lands  in  question 
lie  shall,  on  being  satisfied  by  affidavit  that  such  notice  has 
come  to  the  knowledge  of  such  owner,  agent  or  occupant,  or 


104 


GUIDE  TO  THE  KI,ONDIKE. 


that  such  owner,  agent  or  occupant  wilfully  evades  the  service 
of  such  notice,  or  cannot  be  found,  and  that  reasonable  efforts 
have  been  made  to  effect  such  service,  and  that  the  notice  was 
left  at  the  last  place  of  abode  of  such  owner,  agent  or  occupant, 
appoint  an  arbitrator  on  his  behalf. 

23.  (a)  All  arbitrators  appointed  under  the  authority  of 
these  regulations  shall  be  sworn  before  a  Justice  of  the  Peace 
to  the  impartial  discharge  of  the  duties  assigned  to  them,  and 
they  shall  forthwith  proceed  to  estimate  the  reasonable  dam- 
ages which  the  owner  or  ooupants  of  such  lands,  according  to 
their  several  interests  therein,  shall  sustain  by  reason  of  such 
prospecting  and  mining  operations. 

(b)  In  estimating  such  damages,  the  arbitrators  shall  de- 
termine the  value  of  the  land  irrespectively  of  any  enhance- 
ment thereof  from  the  existence  of  minerals  therein. 

(c)  In  case  such  arbitrators  cannot  agree  ,they  may  select 
a  third  arbitrator,  and  when  the  two  arbitrators  cannot  agree 
upon  a  third  arbitrator  the  Gold  Commissioner  for  the  district 
in  which  the  lands  in  question  lie  shall  select  such  third  arbi- 
trator, 

(d)  The  award  of  any  two  such  arbitrators  made  in  writ- 
ing shall  be  final,  and  shall  be  filed  with  the  Gold  Commis- 
sioner for  the  district  in  which  the  lands  lie. 

If  any  case  arise  for  which  no  provision  is  made  in  these 
regulations,  the  provisions  of  the  regulations  governing  the  dis- 
posal of  mineral  lands  other  than  coal  lands  approved  by  His 
Excellency  the  Governor  in  Council  on  the  9th  of  November, 
1889,  shall  apply. 


FORM  "J" 

CERTIFICATE  OF    THE   ASSIGNMENT    OF    A 

PLACER   MINING   CLAIM. 


No 

DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

Agency 189. . 

This  is  to  certify  that (B.  C.)  has  (or  have)  filed 

an  assignment  in  due  form  dated 189 . . ,  and  accom- 
panied by  a  registration  fee  of  two  dollars,  of  the  grant  to 
(A.   B.)   of of  the  right   (insert  de- 


APPENDIX. 


105 


189. . ,  the  said (B.  C.)  shall  be  enti- 

use  of  so  much  of  the  water  naturally  flowing 


scription  of  claim)  to  mine  in 

for  one  year  from 189 . . 

This   certificate  entitled   the  said (B.   C.)    to 

all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  said (A.  B.)  in 

respect  of  the  claim  assigned,  that  is  to  say,  to  the  exclusive 
right  of  entry  upon  the  said  claim  for  miner-like  working 
thereof  and  the  construction  of  a  residence  thereon,  and  the 
exclusive  right  to  all  the  proceeds  therefrom,  for  the  remaining 
portion  of  the  year  for  which  the  said  claim  was  granted  to  the 

said (A.  B.)  that  is  to  say.  until  the day 

of 

tied  to  the   —  —  —  ,     ,      .  ,.  , 

through  or  past  his  (or  their)  claim  and  not  already  lawfully 
apropriated  as  shall  be  necessary  for  the  due  working  thereof, 
and  to  drain  the  claim  free  of  charge. 

This  grant  does  not  convey  to  the  said (B.  C.)  any 

surface  rights  in  said  claim,  or  any  rights  of  ownership  in  the 
soil  covered  by  said  claim,  and  the  said  grant  shall  lapse  and 
be  forfeited  unless  the  claim  is  continually,  and  in  good  faith, 
worked  by  the  said (B.  C.) or  his  (or  their) 

asociates.  ,    tu    t\ 

The  rights  hereby  granted  are  those  laid  down  in  the  Do- 
minion Mining  Regulations,  and  no  more,  and  are  subject  to 
all  the  provisions  of  the  said  regulations,  whether  the  same 
are  expressed  herein  or  not. 


Gold  Commissioner. 


FORM  "H." 

APPLIICATION  FOR  GRANT  FOR  PLACER  MINING 
CLAIM  AND  AFFIDAVIT  OF  APPLICANT. 


I     (or  we) of hereby  apply   under  the 

Dominion  Mining  Regulations,  for  a  grant  of  a  claim  for  placer 
mining  as  defined  in  the  said  regulations,  in  (here  describe 

...    -,  and  I 

locality)  

(or  we)  solemnly  swear: 

1.  That  I  (or  we)  have  discovered  therein  a  deposit  of  (here 

name  the  metal  or  mineral.) 

2.  That  I  (or  we)  aiu  (or  are)  to  the  best  of  my  (or  our) 


if. ; 


liH 


io6 


GUIDE  TO  THE  KI^ONDIKE. 


knowledge  and  belief,  the  first  discoverer  (or  discoverers)  of 
the  said  deposit;  or, 

3.  That  the  said  claim  was  previously  granted  to  (here 
name  the  last  grantee),  but  has  remained  unworked  by  the 
said  grantee  for  not  less  than 

4.  That  I  (or  we)  am  (or  are)  unaware  that  the  land  is 
other  than  vacant  Dominion  Land. 

5.  That  I  (or  we)  did,  on  the day  of mark 

out  on  the  ground,  in  accordance  in  every  particular  with  the 
provisions  of  the  Mining  Regulations  for  the  Yukon  River  and 
its  tributaries,  the  claim  for  which  I  (or  we)  make  this  appli- 
cation, and  that  in  so  doing  I  (or  we)  did  not  encroach  on  any 
other  claim  or  mining  location  previously  laid  out  by  any  other 
person. 

6.  That  the  said  mining  claim  contained,  as  nearly  as  I 

(or  we)  could  measure  or  estimate,  an  area  of square 

feet,  and  that  the  description  (and  sketch,  if  any)  of  this  date 
hereto  attached,  signed  by  me  (or  us)  sets  (or  set)  forth  in 
detail,  to  the  best  of  my  (or  our)  knowledge  and  ability,  its 
position,  form  and  dimensions. 

7.  That  I(  or  we)  make  this  application  in  good  faith,  to 
acquire  the  claim  for  the  sole  purpose  of  mining,  prosecuted 
by  myself  (or  us)  or  by  myself  and  associates,  or  by  my  (or 
our)  asigns. 

Sworn  before  me  at this day  of 

,  189.. 

(Signature)  . » 

P^ORM  "I."  ~" 

GRANT  FOR  PLACER  CLAIM. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

No Agency 189. . 

In  consideration  of  the  payment  of  the  fee  prescribed  by 
Clause  12  of  the  mining  regulations  for  the  Yukon  River  and 

its  Tributaries  by   (A.  B.)  of accompanying  his 

(r    their)  application  No dated 189. . 

for  a  mining  claim  in   (here  insert  description  of  locality), 

the  Minister  of  the  Interior  hereby  grants  to  ihe  said 

(A.  B.) for  the  term  of  one  year  from  the  date 

hereof   the  exclusive   right   of  entry  upon   the  claim    (here 


APPENDIX. 


107 


describe  in  detail  the  claim  granted)  for  the  miner-like  work- 
ing thereof  and  the  construction  of  a  residence  thereon,  and 
the  exclusive  right  to  all  the  proceeds  realized  therefrom. 

The  said (A.  B.) shall  be  entitled  to  the  use 

of  so  much  water  naturally  flowing  through  or  past  his  (or 
their)  claim,  and  not  already  lawfully  appropriated,  as  shall 
be  necessary  for  the  due  working  thereof,  and  to  drain  his 
(or  their)  claim,  free  of  charge. 

This  grant  does  not  convey  to  the  said (A.  B.) 

any  surface  rights  in  the  said  claim,  or  any  right  of  owner- 
ship in  the  soil  covered  by  the  said  claim;  and  the  said  grant 
shall  lapse  and  be  forfeited  unless  the  claim  is  continuously 

and  in  good  faith  worked  by  the  said (A.  B.) or  his 

(or  their)  associates. 

The  rights  hereby  granted  are  those  laid  down  in  the 
aforesaid  mining  regulations,  and  no  more,  and  are  subject 
to  all  the  provisions  of  the  said  regulations,  whether  the  same 
are  expressed  herein  or  not. 


Gold   Commisioner. 


ALASKA  MINING  LAWS. 

The  Act  of  Congress  of  May  17,  1884,  providing  a  civil 
government  for  Alaska,  provides  that:  "The  laws  of  the 
United  States  relating  to  mining  claims  and  the  rights  in- 
cident thereto,  shall,  from  and  after  the  passage  of  tliis  act, 
be  in  full  force  and  effect  in  said  district."     The  further 

mining  laws  applicable  are  as  follows: 

United  States  Revised  Statutes. — Sec.  2318.  In  all  cases 
lands  valuable  for  minerals  shall  be  reserved  from  sale,  except 
as  otherwise  expressly  directed  by  law. 

Sec.  2319.  All  valuable  mineral  deposits  in  lands  belonging 
to  the  United  States,  both  surveyed  and  unsurveyed,  are 
hereby  declared  to  be  free  and  open  to  exploration  and  pur- 
chase, and  the  lands  in  which  they  are  found  to  occupation 
and  purchase,  by  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  those  who 
have  declared  their  intention  to  become  such,  under  regula- 
tions prescribed  by  law,  and  according  to  the  local  customs  or 
rules  of  miners  in  the  several  mining  districts,  so  far  as  the 


xo8 


GUIDE  TO  THE  KLONDIKE. 


same  are  applicable  and  not  inconsistent  with  the  laws  of  the 
United  States. 

Sec.  2320.  Mining  claims  upon  veins  or  lodes  or  quartz 
or  other  rock  in  place,  bearing  gold,  silver,  cinnabar,  lead, 
tin,  copper,  or  other  valuable  deposits  heretofore  located,  shall 
be  governed  as-  to  length  along  the  vein  or  lode  by  the  cus- 
toms, regulations,  and  laws  in  force  at  the  date  of  location. 
A  mining  claim  located  after  the  tenth  day  of  May,  eighteen 
hundred  and  seventy-two,  whether  located  by  one  or  more 
persons,  may  equal,  but  shall  not  exceed,  one  thousand  five 
hundred  feet  in  length  along  the  vein  or  lode;  but  no  location 
of  a  mining  claim  shall  be  made  until  the  discovery  of  the  vein 
or  lode  within  the  limits  of  the  claim  located.  No  claim  shall 
extend  more  than  three  hundred  feet  on  each  side  of  the 
middle  of  the  vein  at  the  surface,  nor  shall  any  claim  be 
limited  by  any  mining  regulation  to  less  than  twenty-five  feet 
on  each  side  of  the  middle  of  the  vein  at  the  surface,  except 
where  adverse  rights  existing  on  the  tenth  day  of  May, 
eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-two,  render  such  limitation 
necessary.  The  end  lines  of  each  claim  shall  be  parallel  to 
each  other. 

Sec.  2322.  The  locators  of  all  mining  locations  heretofore 
made  or  which  shall  hereafter  be  made,  on  any  mineral  vein, 
Icde,  or  ledge,  situated  on  the  public  domain,  their  heirs  and 
and  assigns,  where  no  adverse  claim  exists  on  the  tenth  day 
of  May,  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-two,  so  long  as  they 
comply  with  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  with  state, 
territorial,  and  local  regulations  not  in  conflict  with  the  laws 
of  the  United  States  governing  their  possessory  title,  shall 
have  the  exclusive  right  of  possession  and  enjoyment  of  all 
the  surface  included  within  the  lines  of  their  locations,  and 
of  all  veins,  lodes,  and  ledges  throughout  their  entire  depth, 
the  top  of  apex  of  which  lies  inside  of  such  surface  lines 
extended  downward  vertically,  although  such  veins,  lodes,  or 
ledges  may  so  far  depart  from  a  perpendicular  in  their  course 
downward  as  to  extend  outside  the  vertical  side  lines  of  such 
surface  locations.  But  their  right  of  possession  to  such  out- 
side parts  of  such  veins  or  ledges  shall  be  confined  to  such 
portions  thereof  as  lie  between  vertical  planes  drawn  down- 
ward as  above  described,  through  the  end  lines  of  their  loca- 
tions, so  continued  in  their  own  direction  that  such  planes 


APPENDIX. 


109 


will  Intersect  such  exterior  parts  of  such  veins  or  ledges. 
And  nothing  in  this  section  shall  authorize  the  locator  or 
posession  of  a  vein  or  lode  which  extends  in  its  downward 
course  beyond  the  vertical  lines  of  his  claim  to  enter  upon 
the  surface  of  a  claim  owned  or  possesed  by  another. 

Sec.  2324.  The  miners  of  each  mining  district  may  make 
regulations  not  in  conflict  with  the  laws  of  the  United  States, 
or  with  the  laws  of  the  state  or  territory  in  which  the  dis- 
trict is  situated,  governing  the  location,  manner  of  recording, 
amount  of  work  necessary  to  hold  possession  of  a  mining 
claim,  subject  to  the  following  requirements:  The  location 
must  be  distinctly  marked  on  the  ground,  so  that  its  bound- 
aries can  be  readily  traced.  All  records  of  mining  claims 
hereafter  made  shall  contain  the  name  or  names  of  the 
locators,  the  date  of  the  location,  and  such  description  of  the 
claim  or  claims  located  by  reference  to  some  natural  object  or 
permanent  monument  as  will  identify  the  claim.  On  each 
claim  located  after  the  tenth  day  of  May,  eighteen  hundred 
and  seventy-two,  and  until  a  patent  has  been  issued  therefor, 
not  less  than  one  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  labor  shall  be 
performed  or  improvements  made  during  each  year.  On  all 
claims  located  prior  to  the  tenth  of  May,  eighteen  hundred 
and  seventy-two,  ten  dollars  worth  of  labor  shall  he  per- 
formed or  improvements  made  by  the  tenth  day  of  June, 
eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-four,  and  each  year  thereafter, 
for  each  one  hundred  feet  in  length  along  the  vein,  until  a 
patent  has  been  issued  therefor;  but  where  such  claims  are 
held  in  common,  such  expenditure  may  be  made  upon  any 
one  claim;  and  upon  a  failure  to  comply  with  these  condi- 
tions, the  claim  or  mine  upon  which  such  failure  occurred 
shall  be  opened  to  relocation  in  the  same  manner  as  if  no 
location  of  the  same  had  ever  been  made:  Provided,  That 
the  original  locators,  their  heirs,  assigns,  or  legal  representa- 
tives, have  not  resumed  work  upon  the  claim  after  failure 
and  before  such  location.  Upon  the  failure  of  any  one  of  sev- 
eral co-owners  to  contribute  his  proportion  of  the  expendi- 
tures required  hereby,  the  co-owners  who  have  performed  the 
labor  or  made  the  improvements  may,  at  the  expiration  of 
the  year,  give  such  delinquent  co-owner  personal  notice  in 
writing  or  notice  by  publication  in  the  newspaper  published 
nearest  the  claim,  for  at  least  once  a  week  for  ninety  days, 


WWI 


no 


GUIDE  TO  THE   KU)NI>IKE. 


and  if  at  the  expiration  of  ninety  days  after  such  notice  in 
writing  or  by  publication  such  delinquent  should  fail  or  refuse 
to  contribute  his  proportion  of  the  expenditure  required  by 
this  section,  his  interest  in  the  claim  shall  become  the  prop- 
erty of  his  co-owners,  who  have  made  the  expenditures. 

Sec,  2336.  Where  two  or  more  veins  Intersect  or  cross 
each  other,  priority  of  title  shall  govern,  and  such  prior  loca- 
tion shall  be  entitled  to  all  ore  or  mineral  contained  within 
the  space  of  intersection;  but  the  subsequent  location  shall 
have  the  right  of  way  through  the  space  of  intersection  for  the 
purposes  of  the  convenient  working  of  the  mine.  And  where 
two  or  more  veins  unite,  the  oldest  or  prior  location  shall  take 
the  vein  below  the  point  of  union,  including  all  the  space  of 
intersection. 

Sec.  2335.  A  patent  for  any  land  claimed  and  located  for 
valuable  deposits  may  be  obtained  in  the  following  manner: 
Any  person,  association,  or  corporation  authorized  to  locate 
a  claim  under  this  chapter,  having  claimed  and  located  a  piece 
of  land  for  such  purposes,  who  has,  or  have,  complied  with 
the  terms  of  this  chapter,  may  file  in  the  proper  land-offlce  an 
aplication  for  a  patent,  under  oath,  showing  such  compliance, 
together  with  a  plat  and  field-notes  of  the  claim  or  claims  in 
common,  made  by  or  under  the  direction  of  the  United  States 
Surveyor-General,  showing  accurately  the  boundaries  of  the 
claim  or  claims,  which  shall  be  distinctly  marked  by  monu- 
ments on  the  ground,  and  shall  post  a  copy  of  such  plat,  to- 
gether with  a  notice  of  such  application  for  a  patent,  in  a 
conspicuous  place  on  the  land  embraced  in  such  plat  previous 
to  the  filing  of  the  application  for  a  patent,  and  shall  file  an 
affidavit  of  at  least  two  persons  that  such  notice  has  been  duly 
posed,  and  shall  file  a  copy  of  the  notice  in  such  land-office, 
and  shall  thereupon  be  entitled  to  a  patent  for  the  land,  in  the 
manner  following:  The  register  of  the  land-office,  upon  the 
filing  of  such  application,  plat,  field-notes,  notices,  and  affida- 
vits, shall  publish  a  notice  that  such  application  has  been 
made,  for  the  period  of  sixty  days,  in  a  newspaper  to  be  by  him 
designated  as  published  nearest  to  such  claim;  and  he  shall 
also  post  such  notice  in  his  office  for  the  same  period.The 
claimant  at  the  time  of  filing  this  aplication,  or  at  any  time 
thereafter,  within  sixty  days  of  publication,  shall  file  with 
the  register  a  certificate  of  the  United  States  surveyor-general 


ArPKNDIX. 


irr 


that  five  hiinclred  dollars'  worth  of  labor  has  been  expended  on 
improvements  made  upon  the  claim  by  himself  or  grantors; 
that  the  plat  is  correct,  with  such  further  description  by  such 
reference  to  natural  objects  or  permanent  monuments  as  shall 
identify  the  claim,  and  furnish  an  accurate  description,  to  be 
incorporated  in  the  patent.  At  the  expiration  of  the  sixty 
days  of  publication  the  claimant  shall  file  his  affldavit,  showing 
that  the  plat  and  notice  have  been  posted  in  a  conspicuous 
place  on  the  claim  during  such  period  of  publication.  If  no 
adverse  claim  shall  have  been  filed  with  the  register  and  the 
receiver  of  the  proper  land-oflice  at  tlie  expiration  of  ihe  sixty 
days  of  publication,  it  shall  be  assumed  that  the  applicant  is 
entitled  to  a  patent,  upon  the  payment  to  the  proper  officer  of 
five  dollars  per  acre,  and  that  no  adverse  claim  exists;  and 
thereafter  no  objection  from  third  parties  to  the  issuance  of  a 
patent  shall  be  heard,  except  it  be  shown  that  the  applicant  has 
failed  to  comply  with  the  terms  of  this  chapter. 

Sec.  2327.  The  description  of  vein  or  lode  claims,  upon 
surveyed  lands,  shall  designate  the  location  of  the  claim  with 
reference  to  the  lines  of  the  public  surveys,  but  need  not  con- 
form therewith;  but  where  a  patent  shall  be  issued  for  claims 
upon  unsurveyed  lands,  the  surveyor-general,  in  extending  the 
surveys,  shall  adjust  the  same  to  the  boundaries  of  such  pat- 
ented claim,  according  to  the  plat  or  description  thereof,  but 
so  as  in  no  case  to  interfere  with  or  change  the  location  of  any 
such  patented  claim. 

Act  of  Congress  of  January  22,  18S0. — An  Act  to  amend 
sections  twenty-three  hundred  and  twenty-four  and  twenty- 
three  hundred  and  twenty-five  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the 
United  States  concerning  mineral  lands. 

Be  it  enacted,  etc..  That  section  twenty-three  hundred  and 
twenty-five  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States  be 
amended  by  adding  hereto  the  following  words:  "Provided, 
That  where  the  claimant  for  a  patent  is  not  a  resident  of  or 
within  the  land  district  wherein  the  vein,  lode,  ledge  or  de- 
posit sought  to  be  patented  is  located,  the  application  for  pat- 
ent and  the  affidavits  required  to  be  made  in  this  section  by 
the  claimant  for  such  patent  may  be  made  by  his,  her,  or  its 
authorized  agent,  where  said  agent  is  conversant  with  the 
facts  sought  to  be  established  by  said  affidavits:  And  provided, 


tm 


XX9 


GUIDK  TO  THK   Kl,ONDIKK. 


That  this  section  shall  api)ly  to  all  applications  now  ponding 
for  patents  to  mincM-al  lands." 

Sof.  2.  That  section  twenty-three  hundred  and  twenty- 
four  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States  be  amended 
by  adding  thereto  the  following  words;  "Provided,  That  the 
period  within  which  the  work  required  to  be  done  annually 
on  all  unpatented  mineral  claims  shall  commence  on  the  first 
day  of  January  succeeding  the  date  of  location  of  such  claim, 
and  this  section  shall  apply  to  all  claims  located  since  the  tenth 
of  May,  anno  Domini  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-two," 

Act  of  Congress  of  February  11,  1875. — An  act  to  amend 
section  two  thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty-four  of  the 
Revised  Statutes,  relating  to  the  development  of  the  mining 
resources  of  the  United  States. 

Bo  it  enacted,  etc.,  That  section  two  thousand  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty-four  of  the  Revised  Statutes  be,  and  the  same 
is  hereby  amended  to  that  where  a  person  or  company  has  or 
may  run  a  tunnel  for  the  purpose  of  developing  a  lode  or  lodes, 
owned  by  said  person  or  company,  the  money  so  expended  in 
said  tunnel  shall  be  taken  and  considered  as  expended  on  said 
lode  or  lodes,  whether  located  prior  to  or  since  the  passage  ( 
said  act,  and  such  person  or  company  shall  not  be  required  to 
perform  work  on  the  surface  of  said  lode  or  lodes  in  oider  to 
hold  the  same  as  required  by  said  act.     [See  page  43. J 

United  States  Law. — Sec.  2323.  Where  a  tunnel  is  run  for 
the  development  of  a  vein  or  lode,  or  for  the  discovery  of  mines, 
the  owners  of  such  tunnel  shall  have  the  right  of  possession 
of  all  veins  or  lodes  within  three  thousand  feet  from  the  face 
of  such  tunnel  on  the  line  thereof,  not  previously  known  to 
exist,  discovered  in  such  tunnel,  to  the  same  extent  as  if  dis- 
covered from  the  surface:  and  locations  on  the  line  of  such 
tunnel  of  veins  or  lodes,  not  appearing  on  the  surface,  made 
by  other  parties  after  the  commencement  of  the  tunnel,  and 
while  the  same  is  being  prosecuted  with  reasonable  diligence, 

shall  be  invalid;  but  failure  to  prosecute  the  work  on  the  tunnel 
for  six  months  shall  be  considered  as  an  abandonment  of  the 

right  to  all  undiscovered  veins  on  the  line  of  such  tunnel. 


PLACER  CLAIMS. 
Sec.  2329.    Claims  usually  called  "placers,"  including  all 
forms  of  deposit,  excepting  veins  of*  quartz,  or  other  rock  in 


APPRNDIX. 


1X3 


place,  shall  be  subject  to  entry  and  patent,  under  like  circum- 
stances and  conditiohs,  and  upon  similar  proceedings,  as  are 
provided  for  vein  or  lode  claims;  l)ut  where  the  lauds  have 
been  previously  surveyed  by  the  United  States,  the  entry  in  its 
exterior  limits  shall  conform  to  the  legal  subdivisions  of  the 
public   lands. 

United  States  T.avv,— Sec.  23150.  Legal  subdivisions  of 
forty  acres  may  be  subdivided  into  ten-acre  tracts;  and  two 
or  more  persons,  or  associations  of  persons,  having  contiguous 
claims  of  any  size,  although  such  claims  may  be  less  than  ten 
acres  each,  may  make  joint  entry  thereof;  but  no  location  of 
a  placer-claim,  made  after  the  ninth  day  of  July,  eighteen 
hundred  and  seventy,  shall  exceed  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  for  any  one  person  or  association  of  persons,  which  loca- 
tion shall  conform  to  the  United  States  surveys;  and  notliing  in 
this  section  contained  shall  defeat  or  impair  any  bona  fide  pre- 
emption or  homestead  claim  upon  agricultural  lands,  or  au- 
thorize the  sale  of  the  improvements  of  any  bo.ia  fide  settler 
to  any  purchaser. 

Sec.  2331.  Where  placer-claims  are  upon  surveyed  lands, 
and  conform  to  legal  subdivisions,  no  further  survey  or  plat 
shall  be  required,  and  all  placer  mining  claims  located  afler 
the  onth  of  May,  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-two,  shall 
conform  as  near  as  practicable  with  the  United  States  system 
of  public-land  surveys,  and  the  rectangular  subdivisions  of  such 
surveys,  and  no  such  location  shall  Include  more  than  twenty 
acres  for  each  individual  claimant;  but  where  placer-claims 
can  not  be  conformed  to  legal  subdivisions,  survey  and  plat 
shall  be  made  as  on  unsurveyed  lands;  and  where  by  the  seg- 
regation of  mineral  lands  in  any  legal  subdivision  a  quantity 
of  agricultural  land  less  than  forty  acres  remains,  such  frac- 
tional portions  of  agricultural  land  may  be  entered  by  any 
party  qualified  by  law,  for  homestead  or  pre-emption  purposes. 


PLACER  CLAIMS  CONTAINING  LODES. 

United  States  Law.— Sec.  2333.  Where  the  same  person, 
association,  or  corporation  is  in  posession  of  a  placer-claim, 
and  also  a  vein  or  lode  included  within  the  boundaries  there- 
of, application  shall  be  made  for  a  patent  for  the  placer  claim, 
with  the  statement  that  it  includes  such  vein  or  lode,  and  in 
such  case  a  patent  shall  issue  for  a  placer-claim,  subject  to  the 


114 


GUIDK  T0]^THE  KI.ONDIKE. 


provisions  of  this  chapter,  including  such  vein  or  lode,  upon 
the  payment  of  five  dollars  per  acre  for  such  vein  or  lode 
claim,  and  twenty-flve  feet  of  surface  on  each  side  thereof. 
The  remainder  of  the  placer  claim,  or  any  placer  claim  not 
embracing  any  vein  or  lode  claim,  shall  be  paid  for  at  the  rate 
of  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  acre,  together  with  all  costs 
of  proceedings;  and  where  a  vein  or  lode,  such  as  is  described 
in  section  twenty-three  hundied  and  twenty,  is  known  to  exist 
within  the  boundaries  of  a  placer-claim,  an  application  for  a 
patent  for  such  placer  claim  which  does  not  include  an  applica- 
tion for  the  vein  or  lode  claim  shall  be  construed  as  a  conclu- 
sive declaration  that  the  claimant  of  the  placer  claim  has  no 
right  of  possession  of  the  vein  or  lode  claim;  but  where  the 
existence  of  a  vein  or  lode  in  a  placer-claim  is  not  known,  a 
patent  for  the  placor-claim  shall  convey  all  valuable  mineral 
and  other  deposits  within  the  boundaries  thereof. 

United  Staies  Law. — Sec.  2332.  Where  such  person  or  as- 
sociation, they  and  their  grantors,  have  held  and  worked  their 
claims  for  a  period  equal  to  the  time  prescribed  by  the  statute 
of  limitations  for  mining  claims  of  the  State  or  Territory  where 
the  same  may  be  situated,  evidence  of  such  possession  and 
working  of  the  claims  for  such  period  shall  be  sufficient  to  es- 
tablish a  right  to  a  patent  thereto  under  this  chapter,  in  the 
absence  of  any  adverse  claim;  but  nothing  in  this  chapter  shall 
be  deemed  to  impair  any  lien  which  may  have  attached  in  any 
way  whatever  to  any  mining  claim  or  property  thereto  at- 
tached prior  to  the  issuance  of  a  patent. 

United  States  Law. — Sec.  2321.  Proof  of  citizenship,  under 
this  chapater,  may  consist,  in  the  case  of  an  individual,  of  his 
own  affidavit  thereof;  in  the  case  of  an  association  of  persons 
unincorporated,  of  the  affidavit  of  their  authorized  agent,  made 
on  his  own  knowledge,  or  upon  information  and  beliel;  and  in 
the  case  of  a  corporation  organized  under  the  laws  of  the 
United  States,  or  of  any  State  or  Territory  thereof,  by  the  filing 
of  a  certified  copy  of  their  charter  or  certificate  of  incorpora- 
tion. 


T.ATKST  RULKS   I-OR  THI-:  YUKON 


15 


LATEST  RULES  FOR  THE  YUKON. 


[  Since  this  book  has  gone  to  press  tlie  following  has  been  received  :] 

Ottawa,  Out.,  Aug.  13.— Major  Walsh,  who  com- 
inanded  the  Northwest  mounted  police  during  the  Riel 
rebellion,  has  been  appointed  administrator  for  the 
Yukon  district  at  a  salary  of  $5,000  a  year. 

The  department  of  the  interior  has  forwarded  the 
following  notice  to  the  Yukon  : 

"  Clauses  4  and  8  of  the  regulations  governing  placer 
mining  on  the  Yukon  river  and  its  tributaries  arc 
amended  by  reducing  the  length  of  a  creek  and  river 
claim  to  100  feet,  and  the  length  of  a  creek  and  river 
claim  to  be  granted  to  the  discoverer  of  a  new  mine  to 
200  feet.  The  fee  for  the  renewal  of  an  entry  for  a  claim 
has  been  reduced  from  $ico  to  $15. 


Seattle  Hardware  60. 


(WHOLESALE  AND    RETAIL) 


819,  821,  823  First  Avenue 
Seattle,  Washington 


The  miners  in  Alaska  must  have  the  best  goods 
made.  We  know  what  they  want  and  carry  in  stock  at 
all  times  sufficient  goods  to  meet  the  largest  demands 
that  can  be  made  upon  us,  either  at  wholesale  or  retail. 

We  are  well  aware  that  the  demand  for  miners'  sup- 
plies will  be  enormous.  Seattle,  because  of  her  com- 
manding situation,  must  supply  the  great  bulk  of  the  goods 
that  go  into  the  Yukon  gold  fields.  We  are  equally 
confident  that  in  all  lines  of  Hardware,  Tools,  Guns  and 
Ammunition  we  can  meet  this  unusual  demand.  The 
fact  that  our  purchases  and  sales  of  these  goods  are  vSo 
large  enables  us  to  make  prices  that  are  always  as  low  as 
good  goods  can  be  had  anywhere. 

The  outfits  that  we  recommend  to  prospectors  going 
to  the  Yukon  have  been  examined  and  approved  by  T. 
S.  Ivippy,  former  Secretary  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  of  Seattle, 
and  who  now  owns  one  of  the  best  claims  on  the  Klon- 
dyke.  In  buying  from  us,  you  run  no  risk  of  getting 
anything  superfluous  or  useless. 

Send  us  your  orders,  or  call  and  see  us  when  in  our 
city. 

Seattle  Hardware  Co. 

819,  821  L  823  First  Avenue 

Seattle^     /     ^     ^     ^     Washington 


OUR  EXPERIENCE 

IN  OUTFITTING  MINERS 

Covers  many  years.  In  fact  we  are  the  Pioneer  Outfitters 
in  the  grocery  line.  Time  and  experience  have  prepared 
lis  to  handle  this  trade  in  entire  accordance  with  the  wants 
of  the  Alaska  miners.  We  are  prepared  to  outfit  almost 
an  army;  our  establishment  heinjjjone  of  the  largest  in  the 
United  States.  The  essential  features  of  these  outfits  are 
Lightness  in  Weight,  Greatness  in  Sustenance.  Packages 
specially  suited  for  rough  handling  ami  exj)osure  to 
weather. 

We  cure  the  1888  Brand  of  Bacon, 
Specially  suited  to  Alaska's  climate 

Write  us  for  further  information. 

LOUGH,  flUGOSTISE  &  GO. 

Wholesale  and  Retail 

Grocers  and  Miners'  Outfitters 

815  d  817  First  Avenue 

SEATTLE,  WASHINGTON 

Seattle  Woolen  Manufacturing  Coi 

PIONEER  ALASKA  CLOTHING  and 
BLANKET  MANUFACTURERS 

Having  Our  Own  Mill  we  can  make  the  special  Kxtra  Heavy  Wookii'f'.oods 
needed  for  the  Yukon.  Blanket  Clolhinj;-  of  the  heaviest  kind:  Heavy  Wool 
Knit  (ioods  for  the  head,  hands  and  feet;  Double  Woven  all  wool  Mackinaw 
Rlankets,  weighing  from  twelve  to  twenty  po\nids;  Mackinaw  Suits,  the  best 
that  wool  and  loom  will  make. 

DON'T  MAKE  A  MISTAKE  BY  BUYING  A  POOR  CLOTHINU  OUTFIT 

Salesroom   ^  ^  1119  First  Avenue,  Seattle,  Wash, 

If  you  want  to  keep  posted 
On  the  Great  Alaskan  Gold  Fields 

THE  SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER 

The  Largest  and  Best  Daily  Paper  in  the  State, 
Special  Correspondents  on  the  ground. 

Address  JAHES  D.  HOOE,  Jr.,  flanager 
POST-INTELLIQENCER,       =       »       -       -       SEATTLE,  WASH. 


FORTOE_KLONDIKE 

AND  YUKON  GOLD  FIELDS 

♦TAKETHE^^ 

nortbern  Pacific  Railway 

Running  from  St.  Paul  to  the  cities  on  the  North  Pacific 
Coast.  Its  line  is  the  DIRECT  ROUTE  for  parties  going  to 
the  Gold  Fields. 

Every  train  has  Pullman  Cars,  Dining  Cars,  Tourist 
Pullman  Cars,  and  everything  conducive  to  a  pleasant  trip. 

Before  starting  West  be  sure  to  call  on  or  address  any 
of  the  Northern  Pacific  Agents  as  shown  below,  who  will 
give  full  information  in  regard  to  this  line  as  well  as  the 
Yukon  country,  and  book  you  through  to  Dawson  City, 
Dyea,  Skaguay  or  any  other  Alaskan  points. 

GENERAL  AND  DISTRICT  PASSENGER  AGENTS 

F.  A.  GROSS.  Dist.  Pass.  Agent 2150  Washington  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 

THOS.  HENRY,  Can.  Tass  ifc  Fr't  Agent r2S  St.  James  vStreet,  Montreal,  Que. 

J.  H.  ROfiKRS,  Jr  ,  Dist.  Pass.  Agent 47  S.  Third  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Iv  L.  lULIJNClSLKA,  Trav   Pa.«s  Agent 47  So.  Third  St.,  Philadelphia.  Pa 

WM.  G.  MASON       Dist.  Pa.ss.  Agent 215  Kllicott  Sq  ,  Buffalo,  N.  V. 

CHAS.  K.  JOHNSON 817  Carnegie  Building,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

WH.  WHITAKHR     "       "         "      lo:{  Jeffirson  Ave,  Detroit,  Mich. 

J  J   FKRRY  "       "  "      .a  Carew  Building,  Cincinnati,  (). 

JNO.  K  TURNPIR        "       "  "      42  Jack.son  Place,  Indianapolis,  Ind, 

C.  Gt.  T.EMMON  "       "         "      208  So.  Clark  St..  Chicago,  ni. 

C.  CMOKUOUGH       "       "  "      377  Broadway,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

P.  H.  NOKIv  "       "  "      210  Commercial  Bldg.   St.  I.ouis,  Mo. 

GKO.  D.  ROGERS        "       "  "      Fourth  and  Hroadwav,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

G.  W.  JONES  "       "  "      503  W.  Locust  St',  Des  Moines,  la. 

GEO.  W.  McCASKF;Y"       "  "      ._. Butte,  Mont. 

F.  O'NEH.L  "       "  "      255  Morrison  St.,  Portland,  Ore. 

p:  L  RAYBURN,  Trav.  Pass.  Agent 255  Morrison  St  .  Portland,  Ore. 

W.  K.  MERSHON,  Cieneral  Agent  Pass'r  Dept 310  Broadway,  New  York  Citv 

F.  H.  FOGARTY,  Getieral  Agent.. 208  S.  Clark  Street,  Chicago 

R.  A.  f;va   General  Agent Duluth,  Minn. 

F.  C.  JACKSON,  Assistant  General  Agent West  Superior,  Wis. 

H.  SWINFORD,  General  Agent Depot  Building,  Water  St.,  Winnipeg,  Man. 

A.  D.  EDGAR.  General  Agent Cor.  Main  and  Grand  Sts.,  Helena  Mont. 

W.  M   TUOHY,  General  Agent 23  E.  Broadway,  Butte,  Mont. 

J.  G.  BOYD,  General  Agent _ Wallace,  Idaho 

F.  D.  GIBBS.  General  Agent Spokane,  Wash. 

I.  A.  NADEAU.  General  Agent ...Seattle,  Wash. 

A.  TINLING,  General  Agent 925  Pacific  Avenue,  Tacoma,  Wash. 

T.  K.  STATELER,  Gen'i  Agent  Pa.ss'r  Dept (K38  Market  St.,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

G.  F.  McNElLU,  Citv  Ticket  Agt.. 19  Nicollet  House  Blk  .  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

O.  VANDERBII^T.  City  Ticket  Agt.._. 162  E.  Third  St.,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

A.  D.  CHARI^TON,  Asst  Gen'l  Pass.  Agt 255  Morrison  St.  Portland,  Ore. 

A.  L.  CRAIG.  Asst.  Gen'l  Ticket  Agt St.  Paul,  Minn. 

CHAS.  S.  FEE.  Gen'l  Pass  and  Ticket  Agent St.  Paul,  Minn. 

J.  M.  HANNAFORD,  Gen'l  Traffic  Manager St.  Paul,  Minu. 


; 


DIRECT  TO  KLONDYKE  ON  PALACE  STEAMERS. 


noni)  Hmerican 


Cransportation  and  trading  €o. 


MERCHANTS  AND  CARRIERS 


Operating  Steamer  lines  from  Seattle,  Washington,  direct  to  all  of  the 
Gold  Fields  of  the  Yukon  River  in  the  Interior  of  Alaska  and  the  Northwest 
Territories  ;  and  has  well  stocked  and  complete  Stores  at  all  of  the  principal 
mining  towns  on  the  Yuk..i, 

Che  only  old  cstaDlisbed  Cottipany  runnind  Steamers  from  Seattle, 

and  always  reliable. 

Tor  m  Season  of  i$^$^^- 

We  will  have  large,  fast,  new,  and  commodious 
steamers  leaving  Seattle,  June  10,  and  every  fifteen 
days  thereafter  during  the  season^  connecting  at 
St,  Michaels  with  our  palace  river  steamers  for 


All  points 
on  the 


You  can  engage  passage  now  for  Season  of  1898.  For  rates 
and  further  information  call  on  or  address  any  of  the  offices  of 
the  company. 

San  Trancisco  Office:  ebicago  Office:  Seattle  Office: 

$  California  Street.     Room  200  Old  Colony  Bldfl.      6i$  Tir«t  Jloenue. 


